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Abstract
Industrialization in Himachal Pradesh is a comparatively a recent phenomenon. From relatively backward and predominantly agriculture state at the time of attaining statehood in 1971, it has steadily progressed. The State Government right from the year 1971 has been providing many incentives and facilities for the promotion of industries. These facilities and incentives centered around cheap finance, subsidy at the time of installation of machinery, transport subsidies, income tax relief and concession with regard to central sales tax. In the present paper, an attempt has been made to analyze the performance of industrial sector in Himachal Pradesh during the last three decades in terms of some key parameters such as growth of units, investment and employment. The secondary data has been obtained from the website of the Directorate of Industries, Himachal Pradesh. The analysis is done in terms of simple percentages, however in order to evaluate the growth of industrial sector, annual compound growth rate is calculated. With a view to measure the extent of inter-district disparities, the co-efficient of variation has been calculated. It was concluded that, medium and large scale industries have achieved a higher growth during the reform period, but, still small scale industries plays an important role in the industrial scenario of the Himachal Pradesh. Due to geographical factors, the process of industrialization is concentrated in some borders areas of few districts such as Paonta Sahib and Kala Amb of Sirmaur district, Parwanoo, Barotiwala, Baddi, and Nalagrah of Solan district, whereas, other districts of the State has remained relatively unaffected by the process of industrial development. The Government of Himachal Pradesh should take an overall growth approach in order to attain balanced and inclusive development of the industrial sector.