Indian States

India’s 28 states collectively drive the nation’s development trajectory. The Chair on India and Emerging Asia Economics increases the transparency of state-level policymaking and shaping engagement with India’s states

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Engaging Indian States is a knowledge portal which tracks significant developments in India’s states and provides context and analysis.

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India States Weekly

States Weekly is the weekly newsletter of the CSIS Chair on India and Emerging Asia Economics. It tracks detailed policy changes across different sectors in Indian states

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Breakthrough Index: Solar Policy

 In September 2016, Madhya Pradesh became the latest state to encourage consumers to install solar rooftop panels. But despite the vogue for such sources of renewable energy, state policies vary widely. We awarded Andhra Pradesh Breakthrough status for a policy that offers generous incentives to producers and consumers, including ambitious purchase targets and net-metering policies.

Newsletter by Richard M. Rossow and Sarah Watson — February 15, 2017

Breakthrough Index: Women in the Workplace

 In late 2015 Maharashtra joined a small number of states that have amended the Factories Act to allow women to work at night. But the tiny northeastern state of Sikkim is the Breakthrough state for women in the workplace, thanks to its high rates of female workforce participation, lack of restrictions on women’s working hours, and high conviction rates for workforce crimes against women (albeit on a small sample size).

Newsletter by Richard M. Rossow and Sarah Watson — September 13, 2016

India: One Step Closer to a National Market

Once termed as being akin to “India signing a free trade agreement with itself,” the business community has greeted the passage of the GST warmly, as the strongest sign yet of the Modi government’s desire and ability to enact key economic reforms. But not everyone appreciates how this GST falls short of the “dream GST” once envisioned, due to political compromise on its structure.

Critical Questions by Richard M. Rossow — August 4, 2016

Breakthrough Index: Industrial Land Policy

Andhra Pradesh wins our first-ever State Breakthrough award for an industrial land policy that combines a large land bank, a long standard lease, and an openness to selling state land to private-sector buyers. Telangana and Haryana rank second and third.

Newsletter by Richard M. Rossow and Sarah Watson — July 19, 2016

Original Video Series: India’s Spring Elections 2016—Part 5

Leftist parties in Indian politics, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)), have played a significant role in the state of Kerala. Except for in the state of Tripura, the leftist parties have been unable to maintain a stronghold of traditional leftist voters in West Bengal and Kerala. However, unlike in West Bengal, where the leftist party was ousted by Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress after three decades, Kerala has faced a strong trend of anti-incumbency since 1982. Kerala politics have moved back and forth from electing the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by CPI(M) to the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by the Congress Party. With a strong show of force by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala, the BJP has become the third player to shift the balance of political parties. However, exit polls show that Kerala will stay true to its trend of anti-incumbency and will elect the LDF to form the next state government in Kerala. The performance of the leftist parties in Kerala can give us a glimpse of their role in the future of Indian politics.

Commentary by D. Dhanuraj — May 17, 2016

Original Video Series: India’s Spring Elections 2016—Part 3

The ongoing state elections pose a unique challenge for both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress. The BJP has not historically been viewed as a contender in elections in these states. Prime Minister Modi has been intimately involved in the election campaign for the BJP in these five states. He has been vocal in calling out the parties in power—calling Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal the “Terror, Maut (death), and Corruption” party or comparing United Democratic Front-led Kerala to Somalia among other examples. While BJP has never held control of any of the five states, it won 50 percent of the seats from Assam in the Lok Sabha elections of 2014. On the other hand, the Congress has its own set of challenges. These elections will determine whether the Congress is able to maintain control in its traditional voter base.

Commentary by Milan Vaishnav — May 16, 2016

Original Video Series: India’s Spring Elections 2016—Part 4

Five years ago the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress broke the Communist Party of India’s (Marxist) 30-year reign in West Bengal and represented a critical block of support in the Congress Party–led UPA government. She used this position to block key economic reforms, as well as regional agreements like the Teesta Water Sharing Agreement with Bangladesh. While the Teesta agreement did not materialize during the Singh-era, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has actively courted her support, including inviting her to accompany him on his state visit to Bangladesh in 2015, and her positions on federal issues have softened somewhat. This is just one way that an elected state leader was able to put a halt to the central government’s foreign policy agenda. Four out of the five states in this election—Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal—can play a critical role in influencing India’s engagement with the world.

Commentary by Tanvi Madan — May 16, 2016

Original Video Series: India’s Spring Elections 2016—Part 2

In the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections, the BJP were confident of a resounding victory. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself visited over 30 rallies in 10 days to campaign for the BJP. The party and the prime minister deviated from their development pitch to include social issues and personal insults toward the opposition. These strategies helped them win only 53 of the 243 seats, a drop of 91 seats since the last state elections in Bihar. However, the incumbent party in power, Janata Dal (United), created a coalition with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Indian National Congress to win the Bihar elections with 178 seats. None of the five states, in elections at the moment, has ever been held by the BJP. However, the BJP did win half the Lok Sabha seats from Assam in 2014. It becomes imperative to evaluate the changes or the lack thereof in BJP’s election campaign strategy.

Commentary by Sarah Watson — May 13, 2016