The effects of the inhomogeneity of the mass distribution in the early universe and of the cosmological constant on the variation of the fine structure constant have been investigated. It has been suggested that the variation of the fine structure constant may be attributed to the intrinsic scale dependence of the fundamental constants of nature. The effect of the vacuum polarisation on the variation of fine structure constant has also been investigated and some interesting observations are made.

PACS numbers: 98.80.Cq, 96.80.Bp, 98.65.Dx