A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF GUJARAT AND KERALA (A STUDY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE ROLE OF INFRASTRUCTURE IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT)

India is considered to be one among the top 10 fastest developing countries of the globe and the growth rate of the economy has been one of the highest among the countries of the world for the last few years. The country started garnering momentum of growth after the economic reforms in 1991 which has been followed by massive investment in infrastructure building in the country by the entry of many countries and companies through FDI participation. The country is forecasted to grow at a higher rate in future also which is evidenced by the data released by international agencies such as IMF, WTO and the World Bank. The country's inclusion in trade blocks such as BRICS is an indication of its growing importance among various trading nations. The economy has been experiencing an annual average growth rate of around 6.02 percent from 1991 onwards. To maintain the tempo of growth, infrastructure development is an inevitable necessity as all the sectors of an economy depends upon the basic infrastructural framework for it smooth and efficient functioning. Even though the concept of economic development used to be measured in terms of growth of output, a real outlook about the economic progress can be assessed by measuring the growth rate in per capita output and human development index, which is very much influenced by infrastructure development. Regional development in terms of infrastructure growth in a nation like India is highly impacted by a mixed bag of multiple factors such as topographical, economic and political variables. The uneven pattern of investment in industries as well as in economic overhead like transportation and communication facilities, irrigation and power has resulted in regional disparities also in India. Kerala and Gujarat are very small regions in India; still these states are center of attention of the world's development economists due to the improvement in infrastructure facilities. The main objective of this study is to compare the growth models of both the states