gujarat: a state study guide

Gujarat state is one of the developed states in India with its fourth rank in per capita income among the major states. The economy of the state has done particularly well in the 1990s by taking good advantage of the new opportunities created by the economic reforms. The enterprising population, with the support of the state government, has accessed new opportunities to raise the rate of growth to one of the highest in the country. However, these achievements are also accompanied by several weak points such as, almost stagnant agricultural growth, massive degradation and depletion of natural resources, heavy pollution in several industrial and urban centres, relatively low achievements in human development and wide regional disparities. Gandhinagar is the capital of the state, while Ahmedabad is the largest city in it. The state held its present form in the year 1960 when the Bombay state was divided into Maharashtra and Gujarat on the basis of language.

Ever since its inception, the state of Gujarat has maintained its momentum of growth. With just 5 per cent of India’s total population and 6 per cent of geographical area, the state of Gujarat contributes 16 per cent of country’s total investment, 10 per cent of expenditure, 16 per cent of exports and 30 per cent of stock market capitalization. Such an economic performance, development initiatives, infrastructure, programmes and schemes and dynamic leadership have placed the state in leading position. The present book examines the different dimensions of the dynamics of development of Gujarat in order to understand the processes and to infer policy interventions for a healthy and sustainable development.