In recent years there has been increased recognition that geography matters for growth and development. This brings into focus regional dimensions of economic and socio-economic development within the country. To further analysis and research on these aspects, the Reserve Bank has been attempting to provide cogent data assembled in the form of the Handbook of Statistics on Indian States, which has been brought out annually since 2016. It provides state-wise statistics on a wide range of indicators of the regional economy of India, covering social and demographic characteristics, state domestic product, agriculture, industry, infrastructure, banking and fiscal developments. This fifth edition has updates of the existing data series and its coverage has been expanded to incorporate two more indicators, viz., (i) agriculture and allied activities (production of egg, fish and wool, sub-division wise rainfall, sanctions and disbursements of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund); and (ii) price and wages (annual Consumer Price Index inflation rate for general, food & beverages, fuel and light, and housing, average daily wage rate in rural India for general agricultural labourers, construction workers, horticulture workers, and non-agricultural labourers). It also incorporates presentational improvements, including format changes for some tables and discontinuation of table on mandays workers for which data are no longer available. To keep this issue handy, the time coverage has been reduced. However, to access the old data, users may visit RBI website (www.rbi.org.in). This publication is the result of committed efforts of a team comprising Amarendra Acharya, Neeraj Kumar, Ramesh Golait and officials from the regional offices under the overall guidance of Dr. Deba Prasad Rath, Officer-in-Charge of Department of Economic and Policy Research. The Handbook is available on the RBI’s website. Feedback/comments are solicited to help improve the content of the Handbook. Your responses may be sent to us at email Mridul K. Saggar
Executive Director
October 13, 2020 |