75 Years Of Indian Economy

As India celebrates 75 years
of Independence, it is important to recall that as a democratic republic, it
has been able to overcome the burden of colonialism and emerge as the world’s
third-largest economy.

Sanjaya Baru, economist and political analyst, traces the nature of this
transformation, introducing the ideas and events that have shaped economic
policy, transforming a feudal, agrarian economy into a modern, industrial and
services-based one. He introduces to a young audience of millennials the role
played by the drain of wealth under British colonial rule on nationalist
thinking and post-Independence policy. He explains how Indian political and
intellectual leaders influenced policy with regard to agrarian relations,
industrialization and the creation of a knowledge-based economy. Baru offers
a ringside view of the historic 1991 reform programme and its role in
defining India’s development trajectory in the twenty-first century.
75 Years of Indian Economy is a part of the series Journey of a Nation.
This book is written for a general audience that wishes to be informed about
the nature of India’s economic transformation over the past 75 years. India’s
economic rise as a secular, plural democracy holds great value for the entire
world.
‘The first two decades of the twenty-first century have witnessed a
significant transformation of the economy. There was a perceptible reduction
in poverty, a rapid spread of urbanization and the establishment of a
globally competent services economy. India led the world in the production of
several agricultural commodities. However, the manufacturing sector remained
a laggard, despite the launch of a new “manufacturing strategy” by the
Manmohan Singh government in 2012 that was subsequently modified and
relaunched as the Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat programmes by the
Narendra Modi government.’