URBANISATION IN INDIA: A DEMOGRAPHIC REAPPRAISAL R. B. Bhagat Department of Geography Maharshi Dayanand University Rohtak-124001, India Introduction: The United Nations estimates indicate that at mid 1990s, about 43 per cent of the world population lived in urban areas. With the urban population growing two and a half times faster than its rural counterpart, the level of urbanisation is projected to cross the 50 per cent mark in 2005. United Nations projections further show that by 2025, more than three- fifth of the world population will live in urban areas (U. N. 1993). The growth rate of urban population of developing regions has been declining recently. It was estimated to be 3.9 per cent per annum during 1980-85, which declined to 3.79 per cent per annum during 1980-85, 3.62, and 3.43 during 199095 and 1995-2000 respectively. The decline in the rate of urbanisation is also continuing in developed regions of the world. As a result, some of the European countries have experienced negative urbanisation during 80s ( U. N. 1993 ). However, the continued absence, namely, adequate data on rural to urban migration in most developing countries as well as on natural increase in rural and urban areas separately precludes attribution of the slowing down of urban growth in most of the countries to any single demographic process. It reflects the effects the host of factors like the relatively week expansion of urban industries and price shifts unfavourable to manufactured goods, population aging, policies to alter migration and spatial distribution patterns in some countries, and no doubt other forces (Brockerhoff , 1998;1999 ). The arguments of Kelly and William (1984a; 1984b) that the slow growth of agricultural land stock and high growth of population of labour force in developing countries are factors that presumably push rural population toward urban areas are not