Regional Economic Disparities in India

In India, balanced regional development has always been an essential component of the development strategy in order to ensure the unity and integrity of the nation. Since not all parts of the country are equally well endowed to take advantage of growth opportunities, and since historical inequalities have not been eliminated, planned intervention is required to ensure that large regional imbalances do not occur. Successive plans have stressed the need to develop poorer regions of the country. In promoting regional balanced development, public sector enterprises were located in most undeveloped areas of the country. It has helped these areas in terms of development of infrastructure, employment opportunities, and growth of ancillary industries to a limited extent. In addressing the problem of regional inequalities, a new initiative - in the form of the Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana (RSVY) - was instituted in India's Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07). It focuses on developmental programs - primarily to fill gaps - for poorer areas which would help reduce imbalances, speed up development, and help these areas to overcome poverty. This present work describes and examines the various dimensions of India's regional economic disparities.