'Chhattisgarh Saw Growth Amid Slowdown': Bhupesh Baghel To NDTV

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has said his state has grown amid an economic slowdown that is being felt in several states. "The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has fallen to 5 per cent. Unemployment is rising across the country... No new industry has come up. The Prime Minister has roamed around the globe, but investment hasn't come. Despite all this, Chhattisgarh is on a very different path. We started land reforms, gave good price for crops... Even the auto sector, which has fallen to lowest in decades, has seen 25 per cent growth in Chhattisgarh," Mr Baghel told NDTV. On the Maoist problem, the Chief Minister said the state has seen 40 per cent drop in Maoist-related incidents. "Maoists now find it difficult to recruit... We have opened schools in districts where Maoists are known to be active," he said.