Industrial Growth Led Structural Change In The Economy Of Sikkim

Abstract

Economies over a longer period of time usually witness structural change. The recent composition of Sikkim’s economy indicates the same. Historically, Sikkim was largely dependent on agriculture and allied activities. The erstwhile kingdom of Sikkim had an eligible Industrial presence. Planning in Sikkim started after it became the protectorate of India in 1950 as per the Indo-Sikkim treaty. The initiatives of Industrial growth in Sikkim can be traced in the first three five-year plan. However, the industrial growth was very slow. Sikkim was merged with the Indian Union as the 22^nd state on 16^th May 1975. Industrial growth was very slow during the post-merger period till the early nineties. The contribution of the primary sector to SGDP was more than 50 percent during the period and the secondary sector contributed less than 15 percent. Various industrial policies over a period of time brought an unprecedented shift in the sectoral contribution to state GDP. During the last decade, the secondary sector’s contribution to state GDP has been more than 60 percent and the contribution of the primary sector has fallen to less than 10 percent. No other state in the North Eastern Region (NER) has experienced such structural change in the economy. The paper examines the industrialisation led structural change in the economy before and after the merger of the state with the Union of India.