Gross State Domestic Product, or GSDP, is the value of final goods and services produced in a state during a period, with the accounting adjustments required by the national-accounts system. Gross Value Added measures the contribution of producers by subtracting intermediate inputs from gross output. At current prices, changes combine output growth and price change. At constant prices, the series is adjusted for inflation and is the better starting point for real growth. An exam question that says only “growth” can be ambiguous until its price basis is named.
The 2026-27 Budget at a Glance gives a BE GSDP of ₹19,75,073 crore and a 2025-26 RE of ₹17,62,357 crore. Those are budget-document projections, not final accounts. The implied nominal year-on-year change is about 12.07%. Do not label that as real growth. The 2024-25 Socio Economic Survey used an earlier advance estimate for its discussion. Later budget tables may revise a historic year; always quote the source vintage beside the number.
Per-capita income divides an income measure by population. It is useful for broad comparison, but it is an average and says nothing by itself about distribution between households or districts. A rising average can coexist with underemployment or regional gaps. AP's economic exam questions may ask the definition, source or direction of a series more often than a volatile rank. Learn the logic first, then memorize only the latest officially dated values.
Worked example: Suppose nominal GSDP rises from 100 to 112 while the prices of goods and services rise substantially. The 12 percent change is not automatically a 12 percent increase in real output. To discuss real growth, use the constant-price series for both years. For per-capita income, divide the appropriate income estimate by population for the same period. A higher average does not tell you whether poorer households received a larger share.
Active recall: State the difference between current-price and constant-price growth. Explain why a BE cannot be treated as an audited account.