Beyond GDP: TN’s pedagogy of freedom

When a state economy grows at nearly 16 per cent in nominal terms in a single year, celebration is understandable. According to Reserve Bank of India estimates, Tamil Nadu’s Gross State Domestic Product at current prices rose from Rs 26.89 lakh crore in 2023–24 to Rs 31.19 lakh crore in 2024–25. This sharp expansion reflects long-standing strengths: a diversified manufacturing base, export-oriented infrastructure, and a welfare system that helps stabilise household demand.

Yet headline growth figures tell only part of the story. Economist Amartya Sen’s distinction between freedom and unfreedom offers a more revealing lens. Development, in Sen’s view, is not simply about higher incomes or output, but about expanding people’s real freedoms — their ability to live lives they have reason to value — while removing unfreedoms such as insecurity, exclusion, poor health, and lack of voice.

Seen this way, the key question is not whether Tamil Nadu is growing, but whether that growth is being converted into durable capabilities across regions and social groups, and whether it can withstand fiscal, ecological, and demographic pressures.

On several counts, the State performs well. Tamil Nadu’s Economic Survey reports a per capita income of Rs 2.78 lakh in 2022–23, about 1.6 times the national average. The State is also classified as a “frontrunner” in the SDG India Index 2023–24, signalling progress across a range of social indicators. These outcomes matter in Sen’s framework because they link economic expansion to education, health, and basic services that reduce deprivation and enhance agency.

However, growth by itself does not eliminate unfreedoms. Some constraints are structural and shape whether people can actually turn public spending and market opportunities into stable life chances.

One such constraint is spatial unevenness. Economic gains tend to cluster around established industrial and urban corridors, while lagging districts struggle to attract investment and skilled employment. Without district-specific logistics, industrial planning, and skills development, opportunity remains limited by geography.

Employment quality is another concern. A high per capita income at the state level can coexist with widespread labour informality and insecure work. From a freedom perspective, sustained development requires protective security and voice at work. When formalisation and social security lag behind output growth, people’s ability to convert income into long-term security remains constrained.

Fiscal sustainability also matters. Tamil Nadu’s welfare architecture has supported human development and helped maintain demand, particularly during periods of stress. But welfare and infrastructure spending depend on durable fiscal capacity. The state’s fiscal deficit target of around 3.4 per cent of GSDP in 2024–25 underlines the importance of preserving room for future capability-building expenditure, rather than relying on short-term outlays.

Ecological pressures present a deeper, intergenerational challenge. Central Ground Water Board assessments show that nearly 32 per cent of assessment units in Tamil Nadu are classified as “over-exploited”. Water stress is not merely a technical issue; it has a direct impact on health, agriculture, industry, and urban sustainability. Environmental degradation restricts the freedoms of both present and future citizens.

Finally, demographic change is approaching quickly. National projections point to a rapid increase in the population aged 60 and above by 2036. For southern states such as Tamil Nadu, this shift will alter dependency ratios and place new demands on health systems, pensions, and social protection. Preparedness will be crucial if ageing is not to become another source of unfreedom.

These challenges should not be read as a critique of success, but as a capability-oriented diagnostic. Each identifies a channel through which growth can fail to translate into genuine development: uneven opportunity, insecure work, fiscal strain, ecological depletion, or demographic stress.

Tamil Nadu’s next phase of development should therefore treat growth as a means, not an end. Three strategic shifts stand out. First, spatial inclusion must become an explicit growth instrument through stronger hinterland connectivity, district-level industrial ecosystems, and targeted skills pipelines. Second, employment security needs to be built into the growth model via labour formalisation, portable social security, and skill-linked transitions. Third, ecological limits must be recognised as binding development constraints, with water management and sustainability integrated into economic planning.

Tamil Nadu has shown that welfare and growth can coexist. The harder task is to make them mutually reinforcing — welfare that builds capabilities, industry that strengthens resilience, and governance that preserves fiscal and ecological space. If these areas are addressed, the State’s impressive growth can mature into what Sen would recognise as true development: an expansion of lasting freedoms rather than a high-performing number vulnerable to future constraints. And on that front, there is reason for cautious optimism.

Thakur is Professor and Dean at Vinayaka Mission’s School of Economics and Public Policy, Chennai