Regional variations within India: Patterns and Determinants

Abstract

India got its independence from the British rule in 1947, and since then it has gone through major economic and political changes. From independence up till 1980, India’s average annual growth rate stood at 3.5 per cent per annum which increased remarkably in the following decades. Between 1980 and 2000, India registered a growth rate of 5.6 per cent per annum. While GDP growth has increased, there has also been a growth in divergence among states in terms of individual growth and development. This paper attempts to study the empirical data for growth and development across states and intuitively understand the reasons and the extent of the regional disparities in India.