From Exploration to Insight: The Book’s Journey
Lessons from an Emergent India.
This book is born out of a journey across India - beyond spreadsheets and statistics, into real towns, markets, and lived experiences. As the authors travelled through different regions, observing how local economies function and speaking to people on the ground, one question kept emerging: why do some regions surge ahead while others struggle to keep up?
Combining these on-ground insights with rigorous data analysis, the book uncovers the forces that shape regional growth-how businesses decide where to invest, why industries cluster in certain areas, and whether India’s growth story is spreading or becoming increasingly concentrated. It goes further to map regions by moving beyond state-level averages and focusing on regions, it reveals a much sharper and more realistic picture of the economy.
More than just analysis, this is a grounded narrative that connects data with lived realities- offering powerful insights for policymakers, businesses, and anyone seeking to understand how India and other developing country can move toward more balanced, resilient, and inclusive growth.
Dr. Poornima Dore
Dr. K. Narayanan
WHAT LEADERS SAY
Testimonials
“A highly significant piece of work, this handy and versatile book delves into regional patterns of growth and the implications of such growth on socio-economic development. I strongly recommend this book.”
Shri Amitabh Kant
G20 Sherpa, Former CEO, NITI Aayog
Sub-national economic analysis in India has been limited due to data constraints. This book addresses that gap by using NSS regions, enabling more granular, long-term analysis beyond state-level comparisons. It is a valuable resource for regional economic research.
TCA Anant
Former Chief Statistician of India, Member – Union Public Service Commission of India (UPSC)
“A stellar contribution… the implications for both private and public sector in terms of sectoral planning, fiscal incentive design and employment generation are far-reaching.”
Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath
Chairperson, Centre for Policy Research
The book highlights spatial dimensions of development using an economic geography approach. It offers innovative methods to understand regional disparities and supports evidence-based policymaking.
Arup Mitra
Professor of Economics, Institute of Economic Growth
“Its use for future policy-making is great, a worthy read! This is a competent analysis at the micro-level, on a subject which is usually viewed at the macro level.”
Mr. R. Gopalakrishnan
Author and Corporate Advisor, Ex-Director, Tata Sons Ltd.
This book shows that NSS regions are ideal for understanding agglomeration and regional diversity. By analysing sub-state data over time, it offers important insights for policymakers, investors, and scholars in development economics.
