Regional Development in India: Paradigms Lost in a Period of Great Change

Abstract

A U.S.-based geographer and specialist in India's urbanization, industrialization, and development outcomes surveys the state of comparative regional development in India, utilizing multiple definitions of "region" and "development." Much of the analysis is undertaken at the scale of India's state-level administrative units, with some additional analysis based on groups of states (meta-regions) and districts (sub-regions). Development is conceptualized along several dimensions: income, poverty, social conditions, industrialization, and agriculture. Ultimately, there is evidence of both increasing and decreasing regional inequality, depending on the scale of analysis and dimension of development selected. The author concludes with a critical evaluation of the theories of regional development as they apply (or do not) to the political economy of India's uneven regional development.

Keywords:

• India
• regional inequality
• regional development
• income
• poverty
• agriculture
• industrialization
• urbanization
• administrative divisions