A Comparative Study of Regional Economic Disparities in Haryana

Abstract

Haryana has come out as one of the most economically developed states of India, and has been in the top list of states in terms of per capita income throughout the year. However there are significant within-state inequalities between its 22 districts. The current study conducts an analysis of economic inequalities across regions of Haryana through secondary data available for the period 2018-2025 from the government's economic surveys, budget statements, national household surveys and peer-reviewed academic literature. The study highlights the differences in per capita income, literacy and sex ratio across the districts in addition to the changes in per capita income, joblessness and human development in the state. The findings show that the income ratio in some of the districts in the National Capital Region belt, especially in Gurugram, has shot up significantly when compared with the districts in the southern and south-eastern parts of the state like Nuh, Palwal and Bhiwani, where the ratio is closer to one. This imbalance is explained by the uneven distribution of industrial concentration, access to infrastructure and unequal human capital investment. The paper finds that Haryana's growth story is impressive overall, but the benefits of growth will be more evenly distributed across the state if the planning of the state, industrial incentives and human development investments are more spatially explicit.