Regional Dimensions in India: Economic Growth, Inclusive and Sustainable Development

It is a great honour and privilege to deliver the Presidential Address at the 58th Annual Conference of the Indian Econometric Society (TIES). I am grateful to the Society for conferring this honour on me. TIES is one of the oldest and most reputed professional societies in the country. Eminent econometricians, economists, Trustees, office bearers of the society and other stakeholders have strengthened TIES since 1960. The annual conferences of TIES provide opportunities for young scholars to present research papers and interact with experts from India and abroad. I remember the wide participation of experts, senior and young researchers and students when we organised the 50th annual conference (Golden Jubilee) of TIES at IGIDR, Mumbai in 2013. Personally, I have learned a lot from the activities and publications of the Society in the last four decades. I am happy to note that this conference has a session on the contributions of Prof. C.R. Rao, the doyen of statistics. I would like to acknowledge that my knowledge in econometrics is due to the excellent teaching of Prof. K.L. Krishna and late Prof. A.L. Nagar at the Delhi School of Economics. Keeping in view of the broader interests of TIES, I have chosen to speak on “Regional Dimensions: Economic Growth, Inclusive and Sustainable Development. My Ph.D. topic was on inter-regional disparities in India. I am happy to revisit on regional dimensions after 40 years in a comprehensive way covering growth, inclusion and sustainability.