It may not be one of the leading states in India in terms of technological advancements, but Odisha seems to be doing really well when it comes to vehicle ownership. Reports released by industry body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) suggested that Odisha is the leader among 20 states. According to statistics, Odisha recorded a phenomenal growth of 293 per cent in the period 2001-2011. ASSOCHAM studied trends in around twenty major states, wherein it calculated growth in the use of cars, jeeps and vans as modes of transports in every 1000 households for a period of 10 years. However, the state stood at the 16th position when it came to using scooter as a mode of transport. Between 2001 and 2011, the growth in Odisha in terms of scooter being used as a mode of transport was only 79 per cent.
The study, conducted and released by ASSOCHAM, was titled 'Automobile Industry in India: Saturated & Potential States'. West Bengal, one of the largest states in India, was ranked 19th for use of cars/jeeps/vans and 20th in terms of scooter use, making it the region with the slowest growth rate. D S Rawat, the National General Secretary of ASSOCHAM, spoke about the study and the performance of different states.
"Kerala is India's fastest growing state in terms of scooters as mode of transport in rural and urban centres , clocking growth of 198 and 101 per cent respectively during 2001-11. With a growth of 149 per cent and 295 per cent respectively, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana are fastest growing states in terms of car/jeep/van as mode of transport in urban and rural centres respectively during the period. West Bengal, on the other hand, registered slowest growth in terms of car/jeep/van as the mode of transport in both urban (31 per cent) and rural (14 per cent) centres respectively,” he said.
The study revealed some interesting results, wherein some states performed better than the overall growth rate of 105 per cent. There were as many as 11 states that exceeded the growth rate, including Odisha (293 per cent), Kerala (222 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (172 per cent) and Jharkhand (170 per cent). On the other hand, states like West Bengal (66 per cent), Tamil Nadu (72 per cent), Karnataka (84 per cent) and Jammu & Kashmir (30 per cent) were among the ones that experienced the slowest growth rate for use of cars, jeeps and vans as modes of transport.
It must be noted that all India average growth for the use of scooter as transport for the period 2001-2011 was around 96 per cent. Ten states, including Jharkhand, Punjab, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, were ahead of the overall average growth rate.
