National Council of Applied Economic Research
The goal in this paper is to correct growing regional imbalances within India. One way of doing that was to integrate some of the more remote border areas with neighboring areas in other countries. Darjeeling borders Illam and Jhapa, the centres of tea production in Nepal. In Rangpur division of Bangladesh, Panchagarh district produces tea which neighbors Uttar Dinajpur, one of the poorest districts in North Bengal. We study the five districts for possible competitiveness, clusters in the region and its state of infrastructure (transport, energy and water). We examine whether there is any potential to develop value chains across the region. If one uses standard economic theory there is little chance of regional integration between the districts because the regions are producing the same “homogenous” product. The question we asked in the beginning was whether value chains can be developed. The answer is yes and no. Value chains in the standard South East Asian manner cannot be developed because of the nature of the product and just-in-time production cannot take place with the current border constraints. Trade in intermediate inputs and services can help the poorer districts of South Asia to uplift themselves.
The goal in this paper is to correct growing regional imbalances within India. One way of doing that was to integrate some of the more remote border areas with neighbouring areas in other countries. . Darjeeling borders Illam and Jhapa, the centres of tea production in Nepal. In Rangpur divison of Bangladesh, Panchagarh district produces... Read More
Bornali Bhandari is a Professor at NCAER with a background in international economics and macroeconomics, specifically focusing on the impact of globalisation on development. Currently, she is engaged in a number of industry studies including automobiles, farm mechanisation, and digitisation. Her wider research interests include analysis of skilling from a 3-E perspective (education, employability and... Read More
Aradhna Aggarwal as a Senior Advisor in the Trade, Technology and Skills Unit. Dr Aggarwal has worked with NCAER earlier also as a Senior Fellow in 2012-13. Dr Aggarwal has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Delhi and did her M.Phil. and Master’s in Economics from Delhi School of Economics and Bachelor’s in... Read More
