Foreign Trade and Investment in India: Policies and Performance

The importance of external sector in India’s economic development has been well recognized and reinforced especially since the initiation of economic reforms in 1991. A study of India’s external sector includes a study of a number of aspects such as-value, composition and direction of foreign trade, trade policies pursued, balance of payments status, role of foreign capital, WTO related issues (such as Textile and Patents) etc. A paradigm shift in India’s Trade Policy enabled it to not only overcome severe BOP crisis (occurred in 1991) but also provide the much needed resilience to the economy. India has been experiencing surpluses on current account for the past three successive years and has built up foreign exchange reserves to the tune of $128.91 billion as on Feb. 4, 2005. Besides, there has been a perceptible change in the trade as well as a structural change in BOP account. Unlike past, India’s export basket is now more diversified and gaining more strength from the manufactured goods thereby reducing the share of agriculture and allied products. However in terms of the share of total world trade, India’s performance has not been so good. It caters to only 0.8 per cent in early 1950s. This book provides a comprehensive coverage and analysis of various aspects of India’s external sector. Organized into seven chapters it provides: An overview of the foreign trade policy as it has evolved over the years; a detailed analysis of the magnitude, composition and direction of foreign trade since independence in general and since 1991 in particular; A rigorous analysis of India’s balance of payment and structural changes in its composition; Foreign direct Investment (FDI), trends and analysis; A comprehensive examination of the second most important constituent of foreign capital viz. – Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI); Issues in foreign exchange reserves management; WTO and its impact on India. The present volume should be of interest and use to those in research academics, business, government and to policymakers engaged in the management of economic policy reforms. It also caters to the needs of students of economics and international business.