Regional Disparities in India's Socio-economic Development

Regional imbalances in a country may be natural due to unequal distribution of natural resources, and/or man-made in the sense of neglect of some regions and preference for others for investment and infrastructural facilities. In India, apart from uneven distribution of geographical advantages, historical factors have also contributed to regional inequities. India's successive Five Year Plans have stressed the need to develop the country's rural poverty regions. In promoting regional balanced development, public sector enterprises were located in these areas of the country during the early phase of economic planning. In spite of policies and programs, considerable economic and social inequalities still exist among different states of India, as reflected in differences in per capita State Domestic Product. While income growth performance has diverged, there is welcome evidence of some convergence in education and health indicators across the states. This collection contains research papers that provide deep insights into the various dimensions of inter-state and intra-state economic and social inequalities in India.