Beyond Economic Growth: Uneven Translation of Regional Prosperity into Household and Infrastructure Development Across India
Keywords:
regional prosperity, household development, infrastructure inequality, night-time lights, IndiaAbstract
Household welfare and infrastructure development does not always follow from regional economic growth. This study explored the linkage between economic development to wider development within India. Household and village infrastructure indicators were matched with NTL data for 2021 and 2023 for 5,501 subdistricts and 29 state-level units. Standardized indices of prosperity and development at the level of households and infrastructures were built. The analyses that were used were descriptive statistics, Pearson and Spearman correlations, robust linear regressions, and classifications by prosperity–development gap. Household development was moderately related to prosperity (r = 0.498, p = 0.006), and this relationship remained significant after adjusting for the other variables (β = 0.527, p = 0.009). However, the development of infrastructure was not particularly associated with prosperity (r = −0.275, p = 0.148). Four of the lower-prosperity regions recorded higher-than-median development, while Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra recorded higher-than-median development and high prosperity. The results reveal that there is an uneven translation of economic activity to household and infrastructure outcomes. The implementation of the regional policy should thus include economic investments and geographically oriented enhancement of basic services and monitoring of multidimensional development.
References
1.Adesiyan, T. (2025). Leveraging agricultural credit and digital finance for enhancing smallholder productivity and rural economic growth. International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, 6(8), 3090.
2. Bathla, N. (2025). Authoritarian urbanism beyond the city: Infrastructure-led extended urbanisation and India’s more-than-neoliberal configurations. Urban Studies, 62(15), 2993-3012.
3.Bello, A. D. (2024). Navigating Beyond Economic Growth: A Holistic Approach to Development and Equality in Public Policy. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 12, 533-573.
4.Chatterjee, S. (2024). Inclusive economic growth in India: Inducing prosperity and ending deprivations. Routledge.
5.Chen, K. Z., Mao, R., & Zhou, Y. (2023). Rurbanomics for common prosperity: new approach to integrated urban-rural development. China Agricultural Economic Review, 15(1), 1-16.
6.D’Costa, A. P. (2023). Closed loop, open borders: wealth inequality and uneven and combined development in India. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 53(4), 668-692.
7.Das, N., & Barua, N. A. (2025). Road to growth: the economic impact of road infrastructure on economic growth of India’s Northeastern Region under the Act East Policy. SN Business & Economics, 5(7), 81.
8.Dev, S. M. (2024). Regional dimensions in India: Economic growth, inclusive and sustainable development. Journal of Quantitative Economics, 22(2), 245-296.
9.George, A. S. (2023). Evaluating India's economic growth: challenges and opportunities on the path to 5 trillion dollars. Partners Universal International Innovation Journal, 1(6), 85-109.
10.Hameed, K., Sirwan, K., Omar, Z. O., Mohammed, E. F., Sourkan, S., Salih, A. M., & Yaqub, K. Q. (2025). Addressing the issue of poverty, economic growth, health matters, and environmental challenges. International Journal of Scientific Research in Modern Science and Technology, 4(3), 18-32.
11.Jahid, M. S. R. (2022). Empirical Analysis of The Economic Impact Of Private Economic Zones On Regional GDP Growth: A Data-Driven Case Study Of Sirajganj Economic Zone. American Journal of Scholarly Research and Innovation, 1(02), 01-29.
12.Kaiser, N., & Barstow, C. K. (2022). Rural transportation infrastructure in low-and middle-income countries: a review of impacts, implications, and interventions. Sustainability, 14(4), 2149.
13.Liu, S., Islam, H., Ghosh, T., & Afrin, K. H. (2025). Exploring the nexus between economic growth and tourism demand: The role of sustainable development goals. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), 441.
14.Mishra, A. P., Anand, S., & Batar, A. K. (2025). Optimizing regional development through smart cities: A case study of Lucknow city, India. Regional Science Policy & Practice, 100226.
15.Mishra, D. K. (2022). The Political Economy of Poverty and Uneven Development. Global Poverty: Rethinking Causality, 225, 316.
16.Mishra, M. (2025). The Northeast and India's Look East Policy: A Critical Analysis of Driven Development Model and Challenges. South Asian Journal of Social Studies and Economics, 22(5), 152-161.
17.Moustafa, E., & El-Shal, A. (2025). Trade Openness and Economic Growth in Africa. Trade and Investment in Africa: A Research Companion, 203-226.
18.Ouni, M., Mraihi, R., Mrad, S., & El Montasser, G. (2025). Exploring the dynamic linkages between poverty, transportation infrastructure, inclusive growth and technology: A continent-wise comparison in lower-middle-income countries. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 16(5), 16820-16869.
19.Prabhakar, A. (2025). A sustainable and inclusive economic development: a global imperative: a global imperative. Journal of Recycling Economy & Sustainability Policy, 4(1), 1-16.
20.Randolph, G. F., & Dewan, S. (2025). Driving uneven development: The emerging geography of India's electric vehicle transition. Applied Geography, 183, 103724.
21.Randolph, G. F., & Dutta, A. (2025). Services-led structural transformation and translocal householding. Economic Geography, 101(4), 240-267.
22.Sinha, J. K. (2024). Economic growth and regional disparities in Bihar and selected developed states of India: A comprehensive analysis of NSDP and PCNSDP. Journal of Applied Business Research, 40, 69-82.
23.Utouh, H. M., & Kitole, F. A. (2025). Opportunity cost of mega infrastructure projects in Africa: Should development be traded for growth? Evidence from Tanzania. Cogent Economics & Finance, 13(1), 2524572.
