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This paper investigates the relationship between financial development and access to electricity for rural and urban India by incorporating economic growth, trade, and foreign direct investment in energy production function. In doing so, we have applied autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing to examine long run cointegration between the variables by accommodating structural break(s) stemming in the series. Our empirical results indicate the presence of cointegration association between access to electricity and its determinants. We note that financial development enhances access to electricity in rural India but declines it in urban India. Economic growth has positive effect on access to electricity. Trade openness and foreign direct investment lower access to electricity in rural India. In urban India, trade openness and foreign direct investment increase access to electricity. The association between financial development and access to electricity is inverted-U shaped for rural and urban India. This paper would present new policy direction for Indian government to enhance access to electricity by using financial development as an economic tool. • Financial development and access to electricity have a strong linkage. • In India financial development enhances access to electricity in rural area but has adverse effect in urban area. • Rise in economic growth of India has increased the access to electricity. • Growth of Trade Openness and Foreign Direct investment increase access to electricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the recent rise in economic development the family sizes in developing countries have become small. This phenomenon demands several policy considerations. Is India ready for it? In this perspective, the paper investigates the impact of a higher level of economic development on average household size in India from 1991 to 2011. Variables such as a higher level of education, health outcomes, the extent of inequality, and urbanization have a negative effect on the average household size. The lower level of poverty is associated with lower level family size in the long run, whereas, infrastructure has a mixed effect. Results show that different religious and social groups have an effect on the family size in India. The results are consistent in state and household level analysis and conclude that a higher level of economic development reduces the family size. Smaller family size faces several problems such as child-rearing, higher divorce rates due to marital conflicts, degradation of children's mental health, land and property disputes, and a low transfer of financial support from children to elderly parents. Therefore, not only the government needs to take cognizance and solve these problems, but also needs to find an appropriate balance between work and family, which is missing currently. This lesson can be useful for many other developing countries to cope up with the reduction in family sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • India's emissions and intensity are driven by private consumption, followed by investment and exports. • India's emission increase comes from final demand and production structure changes. • India's increase of household indirect emissions mainly comes from per capita income increase. • India's aggregate embodied intensity by final demand category all increased. • India's aggregate embodied intensity changes mainly determine by production structure changes. Abstract India is the second largest developing country and fourth largest carbon emitter in the world. It has registered the rapid economic growth (7–9%) in the last decade. However, both its total carbon emissions and emission intensity (CO 2 emissions per GDP) kept increasing during period 2007–2013. There are few studies using input-output (I-O) analysis for India's energy/emissions in the literature. This paper tries to fill in the gap by using I-O framework to study India's total emissions and intensity changes and its driving forces with the latest data available and newly proposed techniques. The results show that India's carbon emission were mainly driven by private consumption (50–55%), followed by investment (25–26%) and exports (14–19%). During period 2007/08–2013/14, India's total emissions increased by 56.6%, where total final demand change resulted in emissions increasing and the shift of demand from raw material industry to high-value added manufacturing industry helped to reduce the emissions. When measuring India's relative emission efficiency, its aggregate embodied intensity (AEI) indicator in aggregate was mainly determined by private consumption (47–49%), followed by investment (23–24%) and exports (15–18%). From 2007/08 to 2013/14, the AEI values in aggregate and by final demand category all increased except the AEI of inventory change, mainly caused by production structure change. The emission efficiency improvements helped to reduce India's total emissions and carbon intensity, but the contributions were small. The policy implications of our findings are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the debate on the relationship between public and private investment in India along the following dimensions. First, acknowledging major structural changes that the Indian economy has undergone in the past three decades, we study whether public investment in recent years has become more or less complementary to private investment in comparison to the period before 1980. Second, we construct a novel data-set of quarterly aggregate public and private investment in India over the period 1996–2015 using investment-project data from the CapEx-CMIE database. Third, embedding a theory-driven long-run relationship on the model, we estimate a range of Structural Vector Error Correction Models (SVECMs) to re-examine the public and private investment relationship in India. Identification is achieved by decomposing shocks into those with transitory and permanent effects. Our results suggest that while public investment crowds out private investment in India over the period 1950–2012, the opposite is true when we restrict the sample to post 1980 or conduct a quarterly analysis since 1996. This change can likely be attributed to the policy reforms which started during the early 1980s and gained momentum after the 1991 crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the sources of economic growth in Indian economy since the 1980s, with particular focus on the role of information and communication technology (ICT). The impact of ICT on economic growth is analyzed via two main channels. The direct contribution of ICT investment to aggregate economy and manufacturing growth, and the indirect impact of ICT on Total Factor Productivity Growth (TFPG) in ICT using and ICT producing sectors. The results suggest an increasing role of ICT investment in driving aggregate economic growth in India, though largely limited to the service sector. Moreover, the economy has not been successful in spreading the ICT spillover effect across the board, thus limiting the productivity gain from ICT use. Whereas we see an improving productivity growth in ICT using market services and their contribution to aggregate productivity growth, the manufacturing sectors lags quite behind. Indeed, India׳s export oriented ICT sector has helped gain efficiency improvement in its fast growing service economy, while there is still large potential for ICT use in the manufacturing sector. The paper opens further avenues for improving the data on ICT investment, and also stresses the need for more detailed sectoral analysis of the impact of ICT on economic growth, treating computer related and software services separately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of undernourishment in India – the percent of people consuming insufficient calories to meet their energy requirements – has been rising steadily since the mid 1980s. Paradoxically, this period has been one of robust poverty reduction and rapid economic growth. The reasons for the apparent reductions in calorie consumption underlying increased undernourishment have been the subject of intense debate both within India and internationally. This paper critically reviews this debate, finding that is has taken place outside of the context of India’s recent nutrition and epidemiological transitions, which appear to have brought with them increased, not decreased, food consumption. The debate has also taken place under the unchallenged assumption that the data on which the conflicting trends are based, collected as part of the country’s Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCESs), are reliable. The paper provides supporting literature and empirical evidence that a probable key source of the calorie decline is incomplete collection of data on food consumed away from peoples’ homes, which is widespread and rapidly increasing. Complete measurement of this food source in the HCESs of all developing countries is vital for accurate measurement of both undernourishment and poverty – and for resolving the Indian calorie debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Son preference is widespread in a number of developing countries despite substantial improvements in education levels and economic development. One potential explanation for the persistence of this phenomenon is that individual household members like the mother derive large non-monetary benefits from giving birth to a son and therefore prefer boys to girls. Qualitative evidence suggests that such benefits exist and may depend on the child’s age. This paper uses large nationally representative datasets from India and tests whether having a son leads to higher decision-making powers for mothers than having a daughter. Since the number and gender composition of children is likely to be non-random for families that want a son, I focus on first-born children for whom the sex ratio of girls relative to boys is normal. The main analysis also focuses on young children of up to six months, which gives parents little time to adjust desired birth-spacing intervals that could be systematically correlated with decision-making powers and child gender. The results show little evidence of consistently large female benefits shortly after birth, and any positive impacts of having a son disappear after the first six months. There are also no large benefits for adult sons. These empirical patterns do not support qualitative evidence suggesting that women benefit from the birth of a son through larger decision-making powers in the household because of increased respect by other household members. The benefits also do not heavily depend on the child’s age, which is not consistent with a channel predicting a better bargaining position for women with adult sons who start taking over the running of the household. Overall, these results extend our understanding of individual-specific incentives for son preference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Risks due to the occurrence of climatic aberrations pose an impediment to the economic growth of the households in vulnerable regions. The frequency of these events is projected to increase in the foreseeable future, with developing countries being the worst sufferers. Dealing with this appears to be an additional burden on the resources of such countries, a large part of which is already devoted to providing better living standards for its inhabitants. Does this imply that developmental interventions should be discontinued? Is there a link between these programs and adaptation to environmental shocks? In an effort to answer such questions, the paper examines the impact of the developmental schemes on the livelihood of the households in Western Odisha, India and investigates whether they augment post disaster coping and adaptation as well. The results indicate that overall the programs have made an impact concerning their intended goals but the diffusion of benefits across beneficiary groups is heterogeneous. Additionally, the programs have contributed in post disaster coping, but only in the regions where either they performed well or their penetration was extensive. Activities promoting livelihood diversification, food security, and poverty reduction also tacitly facilitate improvements in the resilience of the individuals and communities thereby enhancing their capacity to deal with climatic risks. Policy implication advocates the continuation of developmental interventions. However, realigning their framework to incorporate actions intended toward disaster risk reduction and management would result in more inclusive impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: India needs inclusive growth to pull millions out of poverty. Despite the best efforts of mainstream financial institutions, financial exclusion is depriving millions of poor any chance to attain adequate standard of living. Telecommunication infrastructure growth especially mobile phone penetration has created an opportunity for providing financial inclusion. The current state of mobile banking is characterized by a top-down approach. This paper presents a bottom-up approach of designing mobile banking service which would be acceptable and accessible to the poor customers. The results point to clear preference of the urban poor for a joint bank–telecom led mobile banking model. Conjoint analysis of the data points to preference for attributes related to security/safety of a bank along with the coverage, accessibility and nimbleness of a telecom service provider with minimal documentation. The paper in its conclusion exhorts the regulators, telecom service providers and financial institutions to involve end-users in order to create a sustainable mobile banking service for financial inclusion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Performance of cities is fundamental in growing the local economy by exploiting the opportunities for development and enhancing competitiveness. Cities engage in regeneration and business strategies linked to the property sector to advance their competitiveness. In this paper, a hierarchical model for city competitiveness linked to regeneration and business strategies is applied to five cities with different economic profile in India. The capacity of the model to evaluate the competitive performance of cities in emerging economies is assessed across three levels – cities, six operational components and 32 identified factors. The paper draws inferences concerning the linkages across regeneration strategies and property-led business strategies to advance the competitiveness of cities in India. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As the world's fastest growing major economy and home to nearly one-fifth of the worlds population, India a vibrant democracy is in the midst of a profound transformation and rapid urbanization. Urbanization improves the quality of life of people while promoting economic growth; however it also increases energy consumption and is capable of generating an energy crisis. Urbanization has a significant impact on Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions as well. This paper empirically investigates the temporal, dynamic and causal relationships between urbanization, energy consumption and emissions. The study also aims to understand the urbanization process in India, in terms of the level and tempo of urbanization and the urban growth morphology, by utilizing the census data of 1901–2011. The rise in energy consumption and resulting emissions in the context of rapid urbanization is also reviewed. To address these problems the study recommends a series of measures and a set of strategies that include energy intensity and emission intensity reduction measures through continuous monitoring, information feedback systems, introduction of industrial energy quota management, incentives for energy efficient facilities, shutting down of inefficient facilities, and setting up of smart residential buildings. Reduction of distribution and transmission losses by investing in smart grids is also highly recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With almost three quarters of the labor force depending on agriculture in India, kick-starting agricultural growth is considered crucial for pro-poor development. More specifically, dairy production – which is labor-intensive but does not heavily rely on access to land – is generally expected to offer better prospects for income growth to the poorest among rural households. However, most policies aimed at increasing dairy production are based on ad hoc observations, with hardly any micro-level evidence. Using a unique primary dataset on 1000 rural households in Andhra Pradesh, this paper investigates the dairy production system, addressing three main research questions: First, we look at the typical profile of a dairy farmer and we find that both family traditions in dairy and owning (even a small piece of) land play a role in determining participation in dairy – while land size does not matter. Second, we show that dairy production is strongly and positively associated with improvement in rural livelihoods, in terms of income per capita, but that this positive relation only holds for larger dairy farms. In a third step, we look at the determinants of farm growth and we find that households having higher shares of graded dairy animals have grown more after 2005. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper attempts to quantify the impact of fiscal decentralization in India on its social infrastructure and on rural development. Overall, the results in this paper indicate that Government of India within a federal framework has been fostering development equitably across its states, particularly through health and education expenditures aimed at improving human capital development. In this context, the importance of the two tier centre-states decentralization should be noted. However, the third tier of local governance, particularly the state-rural local bodies decentralization has been dismal and has not achieved significant results across states, which warrant the attention of the central and state governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper investigates the causality relationships among energy consumption, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and income in India using a dynamic modeling approach. The paper also utilises an innovation accounting method to investigate profiles of the macroeconomic variables persisting from an unanticipated shock in innovation. Our results provide evidence of the existence of bi-directional Granger causality between energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the long-run but neither CO2 emissions nor energy consumption causes movements in real income. There is no causality relationship between energy consumption and income in any direction in the long-run implying that India could follow energy conservation and efficiency improvement policies without impeding economic growth. This will allow India to reduce CO2 emissions without affecting its economic growth and contribute significantly towards combating global warming as well. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: India’s aspiration for economic growth has consequences for energy growth and CO2 emissions. This paper examines India’s need for energy with 20 year perspectives. From an earlier paper by K. Parikh et al. (2009), demand scenario are examined from the supply perspectives ranging from coal, hydrocarbon, nuclear, hydrogen, hydro and other renewable etc. None of these are substantial and India will have to rely on imports. The need for energy has to be reduced by a drive for energy efficiency and renewable energy. Government programmes for the above are also commented upon. Though India’s CO2 emissions are unlikely to grow very much due to energy scarcity and energy mix the article examines the potential to reduce CO2 emissions and the associated costs involved in various options. It finds that 30% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 is feasible but would involve additional costs. The most promising option is to reduce energy demand by various measures to increase energy use efficiency in production and consumption. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Public participation is generally assumed to be a necessary if not fundamental condition for development. Most studies do not, however, question the kind and level of collective action that would be desirable. This paper provides a novel empirical analysis of the impact of collective action on economic development using data for South India. The paper models collective action as endogenous to economic development and distinguishes between its static and dynamic properties. The results show that while excessive activism may harm state income, collective action in the context of responsible bargaining systems may contribute toward increased economic development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary The last two decades of high economic growth in India has been accompanied by increasing economic inequality. The rise in inequality raises concerns about fall in opportunities for social mobility. This paper examines changes in intergenerational occupational mobility for males in India over three decades (1983–2012). Once we control for changes in occupational structure across the years, we find a decline in intergenerational occupational mobility during 1983–2012 in India. However, the decline in intergenerational occupational mobility was sharper for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, historically deprived sections of the Indian population, than for non-Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has witnessed high economic growth since the 1980s, and a confirmed reduction in monetary poverty, particularly in poorer states. Poverty, however, has multiple dimensions. This paper thoroughly analyzes the change in multidimensional poverty in India between 1999 and 2006. We find a strong reduction in national poverty and each of its dimensions, but this has not been uniform across regions, castes, or religions. Probing further, we analyze changes in the distribution among the poor people nationally as well as within population subgroups. We find strong reductions among the poorer population nationally, but slower progress for most of the poorest groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Unlike migration, scant attention has been paid to the phenomenon of commuting by workers in developing countries. This paper fills this gap by using a nationally representative data set from India to analyze factors that affect the decision of workers to commute across rural and urban areas daily. Our results suggest that regions with large peripheral urban areas or concentration of secondary sector jobs are more likely to have commuting workers. Regional rural and urban unemployment rates and rural–urban wage differentials are important push and pull factors in the decision to commute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper investigates whether the religious identity of state legislators in India influences development outcomes, both for citizens of their religious group and for the population as a whole. Using an instrumental variables approach derived from a regression discontinuity, we find that increasing the political representation of Muslims improves health and education outcomes in the district from which the legislator is elected. We find no evidence of religious favoritism: Muslim children do not benefit more from Muslim political representation than children from other religious groups. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper employs (1) a three-sector structuralist model of development with informal and formal activities and (2) a global one-sector model with demand determined outputs and bargained distribution to investigate whether India's growth performance can be sustained, where the country might face constraints to growth, and how India's growth matters in the global economy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper empirically examined the causality between electricity consumption and economic growth in two densely populated countries in South Asia, India and Pakistan. The causality analysis was estimated at aggregated and disaggregated level where the focus of the analysis was on the agricultural sector. The disaggregated causality analysis indicated a bi-directional causality between the agricultural electricity consumption and the agricultural GDP in India, while in Pakistan the causality was found to run from agricultural GDP to agricultural electricity consumption. At the aggregated level, India confirmed conservation hypothesis while Pakistan confirmed feedback hypothesis. From the public policy point of view, it can be inferred that, at the macro level, any electricity conservation measures in India will not have an affect on India's increasing economic growth prospects and hence a policy-favourite supply-enhancement strategy in the form of increasing electricity generation needs to be balanced with a demand-management strategy. In case of Pakistan any such policy recommendation is difficult given the bidirectional nature of causality. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The future economic growth for India is likely to result in rapid and accelerated surge in energy demand, with expected shortages in terms of supply. Many of its current policies and strategies are aimed at the improvement and possible maximization of energy production from the renewable sector. It is also clear that while energy conservation and energy efficiency can make an important contribution, renewable energies will be essential to the solution and are likely to play an increasingly important role for providing enhanced energy access, reducing consumption of fossil fuels, and helping India pursue its low-carbon progressive pathway. However, most of the states in India, like the northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir, have experienced an energy crisis over a sustained period of time and the government both at center and state level has to embark upon with these pressing issues in a more sustainable manner and accordingly initiate various renewable energy projects within these states. This paper will provide a broad-spectrum view about the energy situation within Jammu and Kashmir and will highlight the current policies along with future strategies for the optimal utilization of renewable energy resources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper explores macroeconomic policies that can sustain structural change in China and India. A two-sector open-economy model with endogenous productivity growth, demand driven output and income distribution as an important determinant of economic activity is calibrated to a 2000 SAM for China and a 1999/2000 SAM for India. Short-run analysis concerns temporary equilibria for output, productivity and employment growth rates in the formal sector. In the long-run, the model allows for multiple equilibria which can describe cases of (a) underdevelopment and structural heterogeneity or (b) sustained growth and development. Several simulation exercises are conducted. Specifically, we consider how changes in investment, wages, labor productivity trend and a depreciation of currency affect the macroeconomy and job creation in the formal sector. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In a world increasingly affected by global environmental changes, Low Income countries will play an ever more central role in determining the future health of the biosphere. While global use of the biosphere''s capacity has increased over the past 45 years, per capita demand for biocapacity, as measured by the Ecological Footprint, has only increased in high-income countries and has remained constant or fallen in middle- and low-income nations. Consumption has increased faster than population in high-income nations, while population growth has been the dominant factor in middle- and low- income countries. Although listed in the middle-income group of countries, China showed atypical trends in the past 45 years, with a rapid increase in per capita Ecological Footprint that outstrip its gains in income. Typical trends were instead noticed for India, whose per person Ecological Footprint has fallen slightly. The results of this paper show that decisions made in China and India will be of fundamental importance for future global sustainability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: For India, sustainable strategy means one that is economically, environmentally and socially sustainable. This calls for rapid economic growth to deal with poverty and human development. However, the relatively meagre energy resources of the country pose a huge challenge. At the same time concern for climate change has raised the bar on the use of the one energy resource that India has in some abundance, namely coal. India''s strategy for sustainable development has to explore all options of reducing energy needs, enhancing efficiency of use of conventional energy resources and develop new and renewable sources. The paper identifies various technical options, their potential roles and alternative policy measures to realize them in a cost effective manner. Even for the same objectives different policy instruments are available and how one chooses a particular instrument is often critical for the success. Self-implementing incentive compatible policy that does not create vested interests that would get entrenched should be preferred. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Effective state–business relations are a set of highly institutionalised, responsive and public interactions between the state and the business sector. This paper examines the impact of effective state–business relations on economic growth across Indian states over the period 1985–2006. We propose a measure that captures the various dimensions of effective state–business relations at the sub-national level, and estimate standard growth regressions using dynamic panel data methods. Our results show that effective state–business relations contribute significantly to economic growth and appear to be driven by the intensity of the interactions between the state and the private sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: India is facing great challenges in its economic development due to the impact on climate change. Energy is the important driver of economy. At present Indian energy sector is dominated by fossil fuel. Due to international pressure for green house gas reduction in atmosphere there is a need of clean energy supply for energy security and sustainable development. The nuclear energy is a sustainable solution in this context to overcome the environmental problem due to fossil fuel electricity generation. This paper examines the implications of penetration of nuclear energy in Indian power sector. Four scenarios, including base case scenario, have been developed using MARKAL energy modeling software for Indian power sector. The least-cost solution of energy mix has been measured. The result shows that more than 50% of the electricity market will be captured by nuclear energy in the year 2045. This ambitious goal can be expected to be achieved due to Indo-US nuclear deal. The advanced nuclear energy with conservation potential scenario shows that huge amounts of CO2 can be reduced in the year 2045 with respect to the business as usual scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper revisits the “finance–growth” thesis from the perspective of the determinants of financial sector growth such as legal and institutional developments and financial regulation in the Indian context. With the help of newly constructed indices of procedural law, regulation and institutional development, within a multivariate VAR framework, Granger causality tests and policy simulations are employed to investigate the long run causal relationships between the determinants and the financial sector. The results show that legal and institutional developments and financial deregulation cause financial sector growth with a considerable feedback and further finance causes economic growth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: This paper examines public–private partnerships (PPPs) for development through the example of telecenters in two Indian states. How might a developmental state position itself with respect to civil society under a PPP model of service delivery? We find that each state’s political economy is reflected in its PPP strategy, but that in both states the emerging middle classes rather than the poor benefit most from ongoing telecenter projects. Outsourcing development services to private entities need not “privatize” the state but does alter the way in which citizens “see” the state. Service delivery through telecenters becomes a symbol of government efficiency and responsiveness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Rapid economic growth in India demanded quality logistical services, implying that dry ports, often characterized by inefficiency, would play pivotal roles. While the Indian government attempted to address this problem by introducing foreign private participation, at the same time, it upheld its social-democratic tradition where local operators and interests should not be edged out by external competition. Hence, it is the endeavour of this paper to investigate how the Indian government resolved these contradictory issues and provided insight on how political influences could shape an industry''s competitive structure, especially in developing economies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: In this paper, we test whether economic growth decreases child labor by bringing together data from the National Sample Survey of India and state-level macrodata to estimate a bivariate probit model of schooling and labor. Our results lead us to conclude that contrary to popular wisdom, growth actually increases rather than decreases child labor because it increases the demand for child workers. The level of state NDP, village wages, and household incomes are seen as the conduits through which growth influences the supply side of the child labor market. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines the determinants of private saving in the process of economic development, in the light of the Indian experience. It is found that the saving rate rises with both the level and the rate of growth of disposable income. The real interest rate on bank deposits has a significant positive impact, but the magnitude of the impact is modest. Public saving seems to crowd out private saving, but less than proportionately. Furthermore, the spread of banking facilities in the economy and the inflation rate have a positive impact and changes in the external terms of trade a negative impact on private saving. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The evolution of the Indian software sector is explained by the larger context of uneven and combined development. The imperatives of a market-driven global order suggest an open-ended process of development, making some economic and technological convergence realizable but also generating contradictions at various levels. This paper focuses on differential innovative capability, the uneven diffusion of technical education in India, and the increasing economic integration of the software industry as sources of uneven development. The combined nature of the development process is reflected in the coexistence of the successful software sector with several lagging sectors with all of them being functionally integrated as part of Indian social formation. To cope with the contradictions of such change a balanced development will be critical. To make development more inclusive deep structural problems that plague those outside the orbit of the successful software industry must be resolved. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper examines the current trends in Indian urbanization, a country known to be the second most populous country in the world. It aims to explore whether India, with its prevailing urban physical infrastructure bottlenecks and targeted policies to overcome the same, is equipped enough to sustain a growing urban population. Due to the excessive concentration of population in cities, the link between urbanization and development has evolved as a critical concern for policy makers. The paper employs a situation-actor-process (SAP) - learning-action-performance (LAP) [SAP-LAP] model of inquiry to assess the state of urban physical infrastructure in India and indicates future actions necessary from the standpoint of reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target of inclusive, consistent, sustainable and resilient infrastructure to bolster economic progress and social welfare, with an emphasis on affordable and even-handed access to all. There has been paucity of studies in the recent past which explore government's role in recognizing physical infrastructure as a sustaining factor to urbanization and its paradoxical policy response—excessive zeal on the one hand and extreme apathy on the other—to urban development issues. The SAP-LAP framework shall assist systemic exploration of various issues in India's urbanization, with specific emphasis on physical infrastructure. This holistic approach would enable to identify further actions to realize sustainable growth and livability benefits of urbanization for India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]