The Oxford History of Contemporary Indian Business

This is a comprehensive coverage of the making of modern business class in India, from 1947 to the present. Relating socio-economic changes and political transformation to shifts in the business climate and policies, it argues that the popular belief that the Nehru government was hostile to the free enterprise system is wrong. It examines how the Nehru government’s policies were informed by a balance between state participation in business and the freedom of private enterprise. It views the response of the Indian business to the opportunities and limitations of the changing environment. It discusses the implications of industrial licensing policy and the institution of the planned economy, the working of the public sector and experiments in cooperative undertakings, liberalisation of the Indian economy, the mergers and acquisitions, and innovations in IT and automobiles. It probes business education, the rise of a new managerial class and the theme of corporate social responsibility.