At the time of attainment of independence, the Indian economy was in a bad shape. Centuries of exploitative rule by the British had drained India of its wealth. The realization of the need for resurrecting the Indian economy had dawned upon our leaders even before independence. The National Planning Committee (NPC) was constituted in 1938 to study various aspects of economic development. After independence, the Planning Commission was set up in 1950 to assess the country’s needs for material capital and formulate economic plans.
During the initial years of planning major thrust was to develop heavy and basic industries to reduce the country’s dependence on import of machinery and equipment, and initiate self-sustained long-term growth. The progress under the Nehru-Mahalanobis model of growth which continued upto the 1980s was slow. The 1990s saw major shifts in economic policies with the introduction of privatization and liberalization in the form of industrial delicensing and opening up of Indian economy to international trade. The economic reforms, together with the adoption of new technologies and building up of infrastructure, have led to a high annual GDP growth rate of over eight per cent for the last three years. Nearly all economic indicators are in the positive zone.
Paradoxically, however, the country is experiencing shortages in amenities, infrastructure and essential services. The basic objectives of alleviation of poverty, generation of adequate employment opportunities and removal of inequalities of income and wealth have not been realized. Growth is, by and large, confined to our urban areas.
The book studies the structure and features of Indian economy and analyses all the important issues relating thereto. It includes latest facts and figures. It will be useful to the economists, government executives, parliamentarians and legislators to frame effective policies. The coverage and treatment of the subject will immensely help students of Economics and the aspiring candidates of various competitive examinations.
Dr. K.R. Gupta is a well known Economist. He has published over a dozen of books and more than hundred papers in reputed journals, being published in India and abroad. He had been teaching postgraduate classes and guiding research for about two decades in the University of Jammu and Kurukshetra University. He has also worked as an Economist in private as well as in public sector. His last assignment was as Economic Advisor to the Modi Enterprises.
Janak Raj Gupta, currently UGC Emeritus Fellow at the Punjabi University, Patiala, has held a number of research, teaching and administrative positions in the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana and the Punjabi University, Patiala. His areas of interest are Agricultural Economics and Public Economics in which he has published a large number of articles in reputed journals and several monographs as well. Besides supervising a large number of M.Phil. students, he has guided nearly a dozen of Ph.D. students. He has authored several books which include Burden of Tax in Punjab: An Inter-Sector and Inter Class Analysis, Economic Aspects of Sales Tax, Fiscal Deficit of States in India (ed.) and Federal Transfers and Inter-State Disparities in India.
