The main theme of the 12th five-year plan (2012-17) is faster, sustainable, and more inclusive growth, but the regional disparities have broadened significantly in the recent decades, and there is weak evidence of convergence. This study attempted to probe this question by analyzing the (GSDP) per capita income in the Seven Sister States in North East India during the period of the first decade of the 21st century by estimating the convergence and divergence. Regional disparities in the gross state domestic product have widened much more significantly, but there is weak evidence of conditional convergence controlling for some variables as an inverse relationship was found between average state expenditure of GSDP and CAGR per capita growth. The study results showed that agriculture growth is positively interrelated and is not significant to the compound annual growth rate of per capita gross state domestic product. The study showed that the Seven Sister States experienced a degree of convergence in the per capita GSDP during the period from 1999/00 (coefficient of variation : 0.0114), but during the 2010/11 period, the coefficient of variation increased (coefficient of variation : 0.0172). Therefore, divergence was also found to have increased continuously in these states. In contrast, groups' wise coefficient of variation decreased considerably for per capita NSDP.

1. Adabar, K. (2004). Convergence of standards of living across Indian states (Working Paper 153). Institute for Social and Economic Change. Retrieved from <a href=http://gateway.isec.ac.in/WP%20-%20153.pdf target="_blank">http://gateway.isec.ac.in/WP%20-%20153.pdf</a>
2. Adabar, K. (n.d.). Economic growth and convergence in India. Retrieved from <a href=http://www.ecostat.unical.it/aiello/Didattica/economia_Crescita/CRESCITA/ADABAR _INDIA.pdf target="_blank">http://www.ecostat.unical.it/aiello/Didattica/economia_Crescita/CRESCITA/ADABAR _INDIA.pdf</a>
3. Agarwalla, A., & Pangotra, P. (2011). Regional income disparities in India and test for convergence - 1980 to 2006 (No. WP2011-01-04). Ahmedabad : Indian Institute of Management.
4. Ahluwalia, M. S. (2000). State-level performance under economic reforms in India. In A. O. Krueger (Ed.), Economic policy reforms and the Indian economy (pp. 91-122). New Delhi : Oxford University Press.
5. Ahluwalia, M. S. (2002). Economic reforms in India since 1991: Has gradualism worked? The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16 (3), 67-88. DOI: 10.1257/089533002760278721
6. Aiyar, S. (2001). Growth theory and convergence across Indian states: A panel study. In T. Callen, P. Reynolds, and C. Towe (eds.), India at Crossroads: Sustaining growth and reducing poverty (pp. 143-169). Washington : International Monetary Fund.
7. Bajpai, N., & Sachs, J. D. (1996). Trends in inter-state inequalities of income in India (Development Discussion Paper No. 528, pp. 176-180). Boston : Harvard Institute for International Development, Harvard University.
8. Bhattacharya, B. B., & Sakthivel, S. (2004). Regional growth and disparity in India: Comparison of pre and post-reform decade. Economic and Political Weekly, 39(10), 1071-1077.
9. Birthal, P. S., Singh, H., & Kumar, S. (2011). Agriculture, economic growth and regional disparities in India. Journal of International Development, 23(1), 119-131. DOI: 10.1002/jid.1606
10. Cashin, P., & Sahay, R. (1996). Regional economic growth and convergence in India. Finance and Development, 33 (1), 49-52.
11. Central Statistical Organization. (CSO). (Various Years.). Income per capita and share of agriculture and allied sectors in GSDP (Various Issues). New Delhi : Government of India.
12. Cherodian, R., & Thirlwall, A. P. (2013). Regional disparities in per capita income in India: Convergence or divergence? (KPDE 1313). Kent : School of Economics Discussion Paper, University of Kent.
13. Chikte, R. P. (2011). Income convergence and regional growth in India before and after the economic liberalization. South Asia Economic Journal, 12 (2), 239-269.
14. Das, P. K. (2013). North-East, 'The power house of India': Prospects and problems. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 18 (3), 36-48.
15. Das, S. K., & Barua, A. (1996). Regional inequalities, economic growth and liberalization: A study of the Indian economy. The Journal of Development Studies, 32 (3), 364-390.
16. Dasgupta, D., Maiti, P., Mukherjee, R., Chakrabarti, S., & Sarkar, S. (2000). Growth and interstate disparities in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 35 (27), 2413-2422.
17. Gaur, A. K. (2010). Regional disparities in economic growth: A case study of Indian states. Paper Prepared for the 31st General Conference of The International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
18. Ghosh, B., Marjit, S., & Neogi, C. (1998). Economic growth and regional divergence in India: 1960 to 1995. Economic and Political Weekly, 33 (26), 1623-1630.
19. Ghosh, M. (2010). Regional economic growth and inequality in India during pre- and post-reform periods. The Journal of Income and Wealth, 32 (2), 71-88.
20. Gupta, K. A. (2014, June, 17). The Himalayas need special policy attention, giving their strategic importance and unique vulnerabilities. The Indian Express, p. 11.
21. Kumar, K., & Subramanian, R. (2011). Porter's strategic types: Differences in internal processes and their impact on performance. Journal of Applied Business Research (JABR), 14 (1), 107-124.
22. Kumar, U., & Subramanian, A. (2012). Growth in India's states in the first decade of 21st century: Four facts. Economic & Political Weekly, 67 (3), 48-57.
23. Mathur, A. (2001). National and regional growth performance in the Indian economy: A sectoral analysis. Paper Presented at National Seminar on Economic Reforms and Employment in Indian Economy, IAMR.
24. Nagaraj, R. (2000). Indian economy since 1980: Virtuous growth or polarisation? Economic and Political Weekly, 35(32), 2831-2839.
25. Nagaraj, R., Varoudakis, A., & Veganzones, M.-A. (1998). Long-run growth trends and convergence across Indian states (OECD Working Paper No. 131). Paris : OECD Publishing. DOI: <a href=http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/138016038733 target="_blank">http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/138016038733</a>
26. Nair, K.R.G. (1983). Inter-state income differentials in India, 1970-71 to 1979-80. Man and Development, 5(2), 43-54.
27. Nayyar, G. (2008). Economic growth and regional inequality in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 43(6), 58-67.
28. Pal, P., & Ghosh, J. (2007). Inequality in India: A survey of recent trends. Economic and social affairs (DESA Working Paper No. 45). Retrieved from <a href=http://www.un.org/esa/desa/papers/2007/wp45_2007.pdf target="_blank">http://www.un.org/esa/desa/papers/2007/wp45_2007.pdf</a>
29. Planning Commission, Government of India. (n.d.). State governments' expenditure. Retrieved from: <a href=http://planningcommission.gov.in/index_oldpc.php target="_blank">http://planningcommission.gov.in/index_oldpc.php</a>
30. Raju, S. (2012). Growth across states in 2000s : Evidence issues and options. Economic & Political Weekly, 67(23), 76-79.
31. Ramaswamy, K. V. (2007). Regional dimension of growth and employment. Economic & Political Weekly, 42 (49), 47-56.
32. Rao, M. G., Shand, R. T., & Kalirajan, K. P. (1999). Convergence of incomes across Indian states: A divergent view. Economic and Political Weekly, 34 (13), 769-778.
33. Reserve Bank of India (n.d.). Credits by all scheduled commercial bank and net state domestic product. Retrieved from: <a href=http://dbie.rbi.org.in/DBIE/dbie.rbi?site=statistics target="_blank">http://dbie.rbi.org.in/DBIE/dbie.rbi?site=statistics</a>
34. Sachs, J. D., Bajpai, N., & Ramiah, A. (2002). Understanding regional economic growth in India. Asian Economic Papers, 1(3), 32-54.
35. Sakthivel, S., & Kar, S. (2007). Reforms and regional inequality in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 42(47), 69-77.
36. School of Statistics. (2011). Population growth and male literacy rate. Government of India, New Delhi. Retrieved from: <a href=http://statsinfoindia.weebly.com/2011-censusdata.html target="_blank">http://statsinfoindia.weebly.com/2011-censusdata.html</a>
37. Shetty, S. L. (2003). Growth of SDP and structural changes in state economies: Interstate comparisons. Economic and Political Weekly, 38 (49), 5189-5200.
38. Singh, A. K. (2012). Regional disparities in the post reform period. Journal of Regional Development and Planning, 1(1), 17-24.
39. Solow, R. M. (1956). A contribution to the theory of economic growth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 70 (1), 65-94.
40. Trivedi, K. (2002). Educational human capital and levels of income: Evidence from states in India, 1965-92 (Working Paper No. 97). Oxford : Department of Economics, University of Oxford.