Kazuo Tomozawa

Industrialization and the Development of Regional Economies in the State of Uttarakhand

is paper aims to clarify the characteristics of Uttarakhand’s industrialization that was advanced through policies promoting the establishment of industrial parks, as well as the ripple e ects on regional economies. e Indian government is promoting the industrial development of ‘special category states’ and o ering them various types of incentives. ese incentives are generous, and they give a competitive edge to these states in attracting industries and on-site corporations. e plains region (Tarai) was chosen as the site for industrial park development in Uttarakhand, and in a short time, an industrial belt was formed along the foot of the Siwalik mountain range. Industrialization has also signi cantly a ected the state economy. When Uttarakhand was established in 2000, the level of development of its state economy (NSDP per person) was low. A er the development of industrial parks in the latter half of the 2000s, the development level of the state economy has surpassed that of the national average. e state economy has transformed into one in which its main contributors are tourism and manufacturing. However, industrialization has not progressed evenly in all regions of the state and is instead slanted toward the plains region. is also acts toward widening the gap with mountainous regions.