ABSTRACT

The services sector forms the backbone of social and economic development of any country. It has emerged as the largest and fastest-growing sectors in the world economy, making higher contributions to the global output and employment. The growth in services industries now serves as an essential index of a country's development.  After Green revolution and Industrial revolution, the next popular revolution is seen in the field of services sector. A two  decade ago when the Indian Government initiated the process of liberalization, the service sector witnessed a boom. A number of banks, hotels, insurance companies, construction companies, specialized services in the areas of health, transport, legal and management have come up to make their strong presence felt. With dynamic changes in Indian economy, especially after the economic reforms, India is poised to be a strong economy in the world and the services sector is playing a vital role in this process. In the current economic scenario, the services sector is here to stay as India is fast emerging as a global services hub. Contributing more than 55 percent to real GDP growth, services sector will continue to be the mainstay of the expansion of the economy with business services including IT and financial services, commodity services and community services being the main growth drivers. Its contributions to the GDP and export earnings of the country as well as the tax revenue of the Government are going.

Key words: Services Sector, Retail, Banking and finance, Tourism, Insurance Penetration.