Regional disparity in economic growth in India

Removal of regional disparities under development programmes has been one of the most important and explicitly stated objectives of national planning in India. Although several studies have been undertaken which have analysed the differences existing in the level of economic development in the major States in India, hardly any systematic effort seems to have been made to examine and analyse the differences in the rates of economic growth among these major States. The present study attempts to fill this gap. Unlike most studies on regional disparities in India, the present study considers, for the first time, the dynamic aspects of the development process, and provides very useful Insights into many policy questions of national and regional importance. Moreover, it presents for the first time carefully constructed comparable estimates of very crucial aggregates like real output, employment and the real stock of capital in the Indian States.

The present study develops a framework for an analysis of regional disparities. It considers such factors as workers' rate, Industrial structure, capital intensity, capital productivity, labour productivity, etc. The identity approach has been followed, though the results have been corroborated by the alternative approach of the sources of growth. The study covers a period of two decades, from 1960-61 to 1979-80.