Indian Economy Since 1947

International Monetary Fund (IMF) has hailed India as a bright spot amidst a slowing global economy. According to World Economic Forum, Indias growth is extraordinarily high. In its bi-annual World Economic Outlook (January 2018 update), IMF has projected 7.4 percent growth rate for India in 2018-19 and 7.8 percent in 2019-20. This is against the 3.9 percent global growth rate predicted for 2018-19. Interestingly, IMF has projected Chinas growth to gradually slow down to 5.5 percent from 6.6 percent in 2018-19. It has, thus, held thatIndiawill be the worlds fastest-growing major economy at least for the next two years (2018-19 and 2019-20). Indian economy has the potential to achieve, and even surpass, the 10 percent growth rate. However, this achievement hinges critically on: (a) improvement of the domestic savings rate (including public savings), (b) increased public investment, (c) efficient, reliable and affordable infrastructure, (d) higher inflow of foreign capital, (e) better credit delivery system, (f) labour reforms, (g) reduction in transaction costs, (h) improvement in technology and quality and (i) export competitiveness. Indian economy has matured in several important respects. It is now much more integrated with the world economy and has benefited from this integration in many ways. The outstanding success of IT and IT-enabled services has demonstrated what Indian skills and enterprises can do, given the right environment. Similar strength is now evident in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, auto components and, more recently in textiles. These gains in competitiveness need to be spread to other sectors also. India has established a strong and diversified manufacturing base for the production of a wide variety of basic and capital goods to meet the requirements of various sectors including heavy electrical, power generation, power transmission, automobiles, shipping, mining, chemicals, and petroleum. Entrepreneurial culture is picking up in India. There is enough evidence that Government is withdrawing, though gradually, as a controller and licenser of private activity and allowing competition and market forces to guide investment decisions. Multinationals and foreign governments have started taking note of Indias rise and recognizing opportunities for investments and enterprise. Indias massive workforce and democratic functioning suggest that the future of labour-intensive industry lies here. No doubt, India is poised to claim its rightful place as worlds economic power in the 21st century. A wide range of forecasts indicate that by 2020, India will be home to 135 crore people, of whom 90.6 crore will be of working age. These 90.6 crore will need jobs to sustain Indias growth, and these jobs can only be provided by the sustained growth of the manufacturing and services sectors. This book provides a comprehensive account of Indias economic problems, policies and performance during the post-Independence period, with focus on post-1991 period of economic reforms. The work contains 44 chaptersgrouped into 10 theme Partswhich touch almost all the aspects of the Indian economy. The book is designed to interest a cross-section of readers interested in the developments in the Indian economy since 1947.