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NATURAL RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

SARIA SHAHZAD
NDU-S19-0252
BS-IR 2(A)

IR-113 SOUTH ASIA IN WORLD POLITICS

GENERAL RAZA MUHAMMAD
25-11-2019

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ABSTRACT:

This research paper surrounds the natural resources found in South Asia with particular

reference to India. India lies in the list of those top ten countries which are enriched with natural

resources. This research paper will also put a light on the relation between natural resources and

economic development of the country. It will highlight whether the natural resources are helpful

in economic development or not with respect to India. Moreover the exploitation as well as

depletion of the natural resources in India will also be discussed. Some recommendations and

results will be given at the end of the research paper.

INTRODUCTION:

Natural resources are the resources that nature has already bestowed upon human beings.

The distribution of natural resources in the world is not even. Some parts of the world are highly

enriched with various natural resources while others are only having limited natural resources.

South Asia being the blessed part of the world is highly enriched with multiple natural resources.

But what actually constitutes the natural resources? Do renewable and non-renewable both

constitute the natural resources or just one of them? In my view, natural resources can be classified

in narrower and broader aspects. In the narrower aspect, natural resources comprise of non-

renewable resources such as fossil fuels and minerals while in the broader aspect, natural resources

comprise of renewable resources such as agriculture, fisheries, livestock, forest etc. For any

country, the broader range of natural resources is of high importance. It holds a high contribution

in the economic development of that country. As for India, it is highly enriched with natural

resources. As mentioned earlier, India is one of those ten countries where enriched natural

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resources are found. The natural resources found in abundance is India are water resources, forest

resources, mineral resources, land resources and food resources.

India makes its coast with Arabian Sea. The water resources in India are ground water,

surface water and rain water. The annual rainfall is about 400*1010m2 in India. Almost 18% of the

rain is evaporated while rest of the rain becomes the part of surface water. Water is used in

domestic, irrigation, industrial and power generation process. Much of water is used in irrigation

process. Tropical, swine, mangrove and alpine forests are found in India due to climate change

and altitude. Forests are the main source of drugs, herbs, wood and spices etc. they contribute in

the country’s GDP. India is one of the major producers of marine fish. The rivers of India are home

to 400 species of fishes. Many of them hold a significance in economy of India. With the arrival

of East India Company, coal mining in India started. After the independence in 1947, coal in India

is used for various energy purposes. India possesses the fourth largest reserves of coal. Apart from

coal, many mineral reserves are also found in India. Iron, aluminum, copper, tin, silver, titanium,

cadmium etc. are found in India that are economically important for any country. Rich sources of

uranium are also found in India that helped India in making itself a nuclear power. India produces

84 minerals which has a contribution of 50000 crores in its economy. India is the third largest

producer of staple crops like rice, maize, wheat and gram. Much of the economy of India depends

on the staple crops that are the food resources of India. Out of 329 million hectors, 162 million

hectares of land is under agriculture in India. Hence, India is the state blessed with natural

resources.

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NATURAL RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:

Natural resources participate in the country’s national wealth. In the present era, it is hard

to establish a direct linkage between natural resources and economic development. For example,

the states like USA, UK have limited natural resources but are leading the world in economic

terms. Whereas the resource rich South Asian states lack in economic development although the

have best and much of the natural resources in the world. But still the countries like Botswana and

Sierra Leone showed an economic growth by merely lying on the export of diamond. For economic

growth via natural resources, the role of institutions and the people governing the state matters a

lot. The lack of proper institutions promotes the depletion of natural resources and hence the

economic development that could have happened is ceased. Proper check and balance and

“sustainable development” of natural resources can assure an economic progress for the states

which are in the race of development.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA:

Indian economy is much developed because of proper exploitation of the natural resources.

The coal production increased a hundred points from 2017 to 308.044 in 2018. The exports of

medicinal and pharmaceuticals was 2,440,020.982 in 2018. The total exports were 28.380 USD

points in 2018.

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INDIA’S GDP GROWTH FROM 2016 TO 2019

NATURAL RESOURCES A CURSE OR BLESSING:

In the past recent years, much of the work has been done to find the relation between natural

resources and economic development in positive as well as negative impacts. Sachs and Warner

1999 provide a negative effect of natural resources on economic development. They call natural

resources a curse on the states who are economically developing. Alexeev and Conrad in 2009

proposed a positive hypothesis regarding the natural resources thus opposing the curse hypothesis.

All in all, it depends on the institutions and governance of one country that whether it will make

the natural resources a curse or a blessing upon itself.

CONCLUSION:

India has developed itself in the past few years. But still the internal problems are there.

India has a good international image in terms of its economy but the internal matters are still

unsolvable. India needs to work on the development of local infrastructure. The slums and poor

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people in India are suffering quite badly because of improper resource distribution. Whatever the

matter is India still has a long way to go and become economically strong.

SOURCES:

https://www.ceicdata.com/

http://www.biologydiscussion.com/natural-resources/natural-resources-of-india-availability-and-

problems/16685

https://www.un.org/esa/desa/papers/2010/wp93_2010.pdf

https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00793217/document

https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream df

https://www.mintpressnews.com/india-/