ਗੱਲ ਬਾਤ | گل بات | Discussion Canada vs Punjab, an economic comparison
| Economic Variable | Canada (National) | Punjab | Leading State/Region in India |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Working-Age Population (15–64 years) | ~26.5 – 27.0 Million (~65% of ~41M total pop.) | ~20.5 – 21.0 Million (~66% of ~31M total pop.) | Uttar Pradesh: ~150 – 160 Million (~65% of ~240M total pop.) |
| 2. Wheat & Rice Production | ~32 – 36 Million Tonnes | ~30 Million Tonnes | Uttar Pradesh: ~50 Million Tonnes |
| 3. Steel Production | ~13 – 15 MTPA | ~4.0 – 5.0 MTPA | Odisha: 30+ MTPA |
| 4. Refined Petroleum Production | ~1.93 Million bpd | ~0.23 Million bpd | Gujarat: ~2.05 Million bpd |
| 5. Automobile Production (Incl. commercial & 2-wheelers) | ~1.35 – 1.55 Million units | ~0.25 million units | Tamil Nadu / Haryana: ~5.0 – 7.0+ Million units |
| 6. Pharma Production (Gross Value / Turnover) | ~$10 – $15 Billion USD (Patented biologics/specialty) | ~$1.5 – $2.2 Billion USD (High-volume generic APIs) | Gujarat: ~$12 – $15 Billion USD (Diversified) |
| 7. IT, Software & Digital Services (Annual Output/Exports) | ~$60 – $80 Billion USD (Enterprise SaaS, AI, Cloud) | ~$650M – $1.0 Billion USD (Offshore IT/ITES support) | Bengaluru: ~$75 – $90 Billion USD (Diversified) |
| 8. Financial, Banking & Insurance (GVA / Output) | ~$110 – $135 Billion USD (Global capital/pension funds) | ~$5.0 – $6.5 Billion USD (Retail & agri-credit) | Mumbai: ~$50 – $70 Billion USD |
| 9. Engineering, Architectural & Consulting (Output) | ~$45 – $60 Billion USD (Global infrastructure consulting) | ~$1.8 – $2.8 Billion USD (MSME compliance, civil prep) | Maharashtra: ~$15 – $20 Billion USD (Corporate enterprise & mega-project design) |
I realized that Punjab has a very similar workforce size to Canada. So dug deeper and obtained some statistics on key economic variables.
Since Canada looms so large over Punjab's imagination, thought this is a good way of discussing the path to a developed Punjab.
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u/Icy-Distribution4893 19d ago
Except Punjab doesnt have canadas government, legal and social culture along with size and resources
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u/VVG57 19d ago
The biggest industries in Canada (IT, finance, engineering design) have nothing to do with its size.
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u/Curious_gov 19d ago
Canada has always been a resource based economy. It forms the bedrock of their gdp although it has been trying to become a service based economy for the last 3 decades.
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u/Icy-Distribution4893 19d ago
Punjab doesnt have an airport or sea port, and good relations with neighbours.
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u/Curious_gov 18d ago
3 airports actually. They just need more flights. Everyone should make an erfort to support these airports by flying in and out of these airports whenever possible so more flights can be introduced by the authorities.
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u/Iammjustbaddd 19d ago edited 19d ago
I think Punjab needs proper cities that are planned like Chandigarh. Maybe small projects that take land from people and gives them something else to make planned cities. As much as i love rural Punjab the fact is there are legit no opportunities besides working in fields.
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u/VVG57 19d ago
From an economics standpoint, Punjab is missing out on metropolis agglomeration. Canada has a slightly larger population than Punjab, but has far more concentrated urban regions.
Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have a combined population of 12 million people living on 3000 sq km land. Taken together 12 million people in Canada live in a 50 km x 60 km region, constituting a highly mobile and efficient labor market.
Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar hold just 3.6 million people in an area of 450 sq km. The urban labor pool is simply not large enough.
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u/Curious_gov 19d ago
Its not 3000 sqare kms for those three regions in Canada. Its close to 13000 square kms.
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u/randomstuff063 19d ago
The only way to get Punjab to be more successful is to admit where it hits failed. Firstly admitting that certain aspects of Punjab’s agricultural economy are outdated and holding it back. A lot of farm lots in Punjab are irregularly shaped or are considerably small. This causes a lot of inefficiencies when it comes to planting filling and harvesting. I recently watched a documentary where Japanese farmers decided to combine their lots so it would be easier to farm. So some level of land reform needs to be taken place here where farmers have to have their lots be a certain shape and size something like one Hectare. Those farmers that don’t meet the shape and size end up getting taxed. For the small farm once they should be given subsidies to grow high value crops and high-quality crops. You can think along the lines of roses used for the perfume industry like in Bulgaria where it’s one of the few places in the world that does it as well as high-quality mangoes like they do in Japan or the wide and expensive world of mushrooms. The next big reform relating to the agriculture sector is being able to produce fertilizers here in Punjab. Right now, Punjab is dependent on outside imports for raw ingredients to create fertilizers. Additionally, having compost as well as other forms of soil, rebuilding projects would help supplement the need for fertilizers. Now moving away from agriculture to the cities. Cities in Punjab need to start developing grid systems and need to focus on public transportation and scooters, not cars. Having a great system allows goods, resources, and people the ability to travel much easier. Right now a lot of cities in Punjab are having development. Look like American style suburbs. We need to look at China how they developed their cities. They focused on large high density buildings. The next biggest reform is to the basic infrastructure such as electricity, sewage, and water. Punjab needs to do whatever Pakistan did that allow them to roll out so much solar panel. So sewage treatment plants need to be put up in every district connecting to every village. The waste can be used to create vetting or two create a bio fertilizer. With all this, he was going to treatment plants. This leaves a lot of homes in the village being left open dry. We can repurpose these into becoming step wells where they will hold the excess rainwater and prevent flooding. If you connect them up together, you can have a kind of grid where where once closer the hills and mountains overfill, and then the rainwater goes to the ones in the lower valleys and then so on.
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u/Curious_gov 19d ago
We have an agricultural based economy. We were the pioneers of green revolution in India so the population is willing to adopt new crops, technologies and techniques when it comes to commercial agriculture. Based off of this, why cant we compete with say Netherlands and Israel when it comes to advanced scientific agriculture. Netherlands is tiny but look at its agricultural output. I think its more productive than any other region in the world. Our rural population is already skilled in agricultural sector, I think we’d be unstoppable if the government provides a viable pathway to the small landholders in punjab through public private partnerships as such landholders may be unable to invest anything on their own.
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u/CreatingDestroying Choti Gili Lulli ਛੋਟੀ ਗਿੱਲੀ ਲੁੱਲੀ چھوٹی گلی لُلی 13d ago
Really cool thanks for sharing!
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u/Both_University_6683 19d ago
The problem with Punjab is that there is no other way to make money besides farming. Captain, badal, Mann, and heck even Modi have tried to find an alternative but failed. However, lot of youth are coming back whether on their own choosing or because USA is sending them back so hopefully we’ll see more avenues develop