Regional Patterns of Industrial Growth in India First Edition  (English, Hardcover, Awasthi Dinesh N)

An important objective of the growth strategy in India is the balanced regional development. It is realised that unless all the constituent regions of the country are imbued to participate in the growth process, the attainable growth will probably remain sub optimal. This calls for a clear understanding of the regional economics.

The book attempts to unravel the dynamics of regional industrialisation in India. It looks into the regional industrial structures and shifts therein over a period of 18 years between 1961 and 1978/79. It offers conclusive evidence that inter regional inequalities in the level of industrialisation have declined over time in the country. In order to understand the factors influencing industrial growth across the regions/States, a behavioural model is developed, incorporating various demand and supply side variables. What emerge out of the exercise is that in the early phase of industrialization, supply side factors were more important in explaining regional variations in the level of industrial development. However, over time, focus shifts on the demand side variables.

The results indicate that while planning for a proper spatial spread of industries, the emphasis will have to be given on the aspect relating to inter industry demand, generation of income (which are not concentrated in a few pockets), availability of power and agglomeration economies which are spread over a fairly large number of existing and emerging urban centres.