Inter-State Disparities in Per Capita State Domestic Product in India: Trends and Causes

Balanced regional development has been a major objective of Indian Five Year Plans. The present paper examines the trends in per capita state domestic product 17 major states of the country during the period 1960-1994. The study reveals that even though over the period the process of economic development has been spatially widespread, all indicators of inter-state disparities (viz., coefficient of variation, standard deviation, range and maximum, minimum ratio) show a sharp upward trend.