4.2.1. Does India Need More States?

India sits at the bottom of the federal league table of numbers of states per capita population. It has an average of over 35 million people per state. That compares to about 7 million people in Brazil, 6 million in the US or 4 million in Nigeria. However, in geographical terms, the size of its states is less startling. India's states are an average of about 110,000 square kilometres in size compared to almost 200,000 sq km in the US and over 300,000 sq km in Brazil. German Länder are much smaller, at an average of 22,000 sq km, while Swiss cantons are an average of only 1,588 sq km. So, in per capita terms, it lags behind other federal systems, but it is not an outlier in terms of geographical area.

Further creating more states may have some issues associated with it such as – power capture by dominant community/ caste/ tribe; increased probability of intra-regional rivalries among the sub-regions; possibility of increase in the inter-State water, power and boundary disputes; instability in government as small group of legislators could make or break a government; and inefficient usage of financial resources by duplication of work in different capitals as well as in establishment of new capitals and officials.