Looking back 45 years or so, progress against poverty in India has been highly uneven over time and space. It took 20 years for the national poverty rate to fall below—and stay below—its value in the early 1950s. And trend rates of poverty reduction have differed appreciably between states. This research project aimed to understand what influence economy-wide and sectoral factors have played in the evolution of poverty measures for India since the 1950s, and to draw lessons for the future. This database contains detailed statistics on a wide range of topics in India. The data are presented at the state level and at the all-India level separately. The database uses published information to construct comprehensive series in six subject blocks. Period coverage is roughly from 1950 to 1994. The database contains 30 spreadsheets and 89 text files (ASCII) that are grouped into the six subject blocks. The formats and sizes of the 30 spreadsheets vary considerably. The list of variables included: . Expenditures (distribution) . National Accounts . Prices Wages . Population . Rainfall