Raipur, Dec 8 (IANS): Mineral-rich but insurgency-ridden Chhattisgarh can maintain its high GDP growth rate of 11 percent for years, claims Chief Minister Raman Singh.

"Despite Maoist insurgency in iron ore-rich areas, the current GDP growth rate of the state is 11.47 percent and if you calculate the state's average GDP rate for the past five years, then it's around 10.5 percent. The state has the potential to maintain over 11 percent GDP rate for several years," Singh told IANS in a brief interview.

The 59-year-old politician heads a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state that has roughly 20 percent of India's estimated iron ore and coal reserves.

He said, "The state's economic fundamentals are strong and it will help maintain a high GDP rate for a long time."

"Each sector is contributing to the growth, even agriculture has shown a growth of 4.5 percent in the last fiscal year and in the current fiscal year the projected growth of this sector is 6.5 percent," Singh said.

When asked why large areas of the state were still underdeveloped and a massive population in iron ore-rich Bastar and coal-rich Surguja regions were living in extreme poverty despite high GDP growth, he said, "Their life quality is improving.

"Forest residents of the state earn Rs.1,000 crore annually from minor forest produce, their condition will improve fast in the next three years when all villages will have access to roads and electricity and with industrialisation of iron ore and coal-rich areas," he said.

He said the state was getting just Rs.300 crore annually as royalty from mines three years ago but the figure has now gone up to Rs.1,800 crore.