To promote industrialisation of the backward areas in the country, growth centres providing infrastructure to enable the states to attract industries, were set up by the Government of India in 1988. In this study, I assess the performance of growth centres, taking into account the impact of growth centres on firm location. I do not find growth centres to have a statistically significant effect on unemployment rate. However, I find that wherever growth centres exist, they positively affect the number of firms locating there. Combining quantitative with qualitative methods, I conclude with implications for firm location and criteria for growth centre designation.