After independence in 1947, India’s development pattern was characterised by strong centralised planning, Government ownership of basic and key industries, excessive regulation and control of private enterprise, trade protectionism through tariff and non-tariff barriers and a cautious and selective approach towards foreign capital. It was a quota, permit and license regime. This so-called inward-looking, import substitution strategy of economic development began to be widely questioned with the beginning of 1980s. Policy makers started realising the drawbacks of this strategy which inhibited competitiveness and efficiency and produced a much lower rate of growth than expected. Economic reforms were set in motion, though on a modest scale, when controls on industries were reduced by the 1985 industrial policy. The economic reforms programme got a big boost when the government announced a new industrial policy in the Indian Parliament on July 24, 1991. Since then, it is liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation all the way and the process is underway. In the new liberalised industrial and trade environment, the government is progressively assuming the role of a promoter, facilitator and catalytic agent instead of a regulator and controller of economic activities. After the reforms, the Indian economy has been growing faster than its historical growth rate. Growth in the year ending March 2004 was around 7.5 per cent, the best performance since the 7.8 percent reported in 1996-97. The economy, therefore, has shown that it is capable of achieving high growth rates in response to the implementation of appropriate economic reform policies. India is now Asia’s third largest economy and has the world’s fourth largest foreign exchange reserves. The period covered by this study (1947-48 to 2004-05) has witnessed structural changes in the Indian economy. From a traditional agricultural economy, India has emerged as a technologically strong, industrially diversified and militarily powerful country. The experience of India is exemplary for other developing countries striving to achieve self reliance and a respectable place in the world community. The present work provides glimpses of the various sectors of the Indian economy. In contains year-wise description and review of economic events in India since independence in 1947. It also provides important reading material on the subject. The work is useful for a cross-section of academic community and researchers, both in India and abroad.
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