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In response to the development of groundwater-based irrigation technology, institutions such as groundwater markets have emerged in many parts of India. While the farmers' decision to buy water is shaped by issues such as capital scarcity, size of operational holdings, number of fragmented plots, farmers' access to institutional credit, etc., there are spatial variations of factors affecting farmers' participation in the market due to its localised nature. In view of the fact that the number of studies on water markets from water-abundant regions of India is very limited, the present study was carried out to unearth the factors influencing the water-buying decisions of farmers in the groundwater market in Assam in the eastern part of India. Using field data from two districts of the state, viz. Nagaon and Morigaon and with the help of logit regression, this study examines the determinants of water-buying decisions of farmers in Assam. The results of the logit analysis show that own farm size, farmer's access to institutional credit, age, education, and better contact with extension agencies reduce the probability of water-buying decision for a buyer. For a tenant farmer, the probability of buying water is found to be higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liberal resource transfer from the centre to economically backward states in India has ensured overcoming the mismatch between revenue generated and expenditure commitments of the states. From the point of view of long-term fiscal sustainability of states, however, greater effort to generate enough resources as per the potential of individual states is important, which makes the issue of revenue effort significant. Based on secondary data, this article is an attempt to analyze revenue mobilization efforts of the Government of Assam during 1991–2010. By examining the issues of arrears of uncollected tax and non-tax revenue, cost of collection of different taxes and duties, and cost recovery of different services, the study confirms low-revenue efforts on the part of the state government. The time series regression analysis between ‘per-capita own tax revenue’ and ‘per capita GSDP of the state’ and ‘per-capita revenue expenditure of the state in the previous year’ also confirms low-revenue efforts, necessitating the need of extra tax effort on the part of the state government.JEL Classification: H20, H27, C4

Development of groundwater-based irrigation technology resulted in the emergence of groundwater markets in many parts of India. Due to the localized nature of the markets, it deems important to capture influence of spatial variation in the functioning of the market. This study is carried out to unearth the factors influencing water selling decisions of farmers in water abundant regions of India taking the case of Assam in Eastern India. Using field-level data from two districts of the state and with the help of logit regression analysis, the study examines the determinants of water selling decision of farmers. The results have shown that excess capacity of the pump sets, availability of diesel operated pump sets and conveyance facilities, depth of the boring, caste of the farmer, etc. are some of the significant factors influencing the probability of water selling decision of a farmer. The results, on the whole, indicate that water selling decision of a farmer in water abundant regions is the result of a combined effect of a number of socio-economic, farm specific and tube well specific factors.