Income Convergence and Regional Growth in India: Before and After the Economic Liberalization

Abstract

In this article I study regional growth and sub-national income convergence in India in the context of economic reforms that have been undertaken since 1991. I also examine convergence in development inputs such as population growth, literacy and investment at the sub-national level. My results show that there is a strong evidence of divergence in per capita income of the 15 states studied in the sample. The standard deviation of net state domestic product has increased over time indicating no evidence of convergence in the pre- or post-reform period. Population, state capital expenditure and commercial bank credit have also diverged over time across these 15 Indian states. However, literacy shows evidence of convergence across states.