Professional Documents
Culture Documents
What is economics?
The English word economics is derived from the ancient Greek word oikonomia—meaning the
management of a family or a household.
In its most simple and concise definition, economics is the study of how society uses its limited
resources.
A social science concerned chiefly with description and analysis of the production,
distribution, and consumption of goods and services
Economics focuses heavily on the four factors of production, which are land, labour, capital, and
enterprise. These are the four ingredients that make up economic activity in our world today and
can each be studied individually.
Why study economics?
Currency:
Currency is a generally accepted form of money, including coins and paper notes,
which is issued by a government and circulated within an economy. Used as a
medium of exchange for goods and services, currency is the basis for trade.
The Indian rupee (₹) is the only legal tender in India, and is also accepted as legal
tender in neighbouring Nepal and Bhutan, both of which peg their currency to that
the Indian rupee. The rupee is divided into 100 paisas. The highest-denomination
banknote is the ₹2,000 note; the lowest-denomination coin in circulation is the 50
paise coin.
Indian economy
India’s economy has been one of the fast growing economies of the world.
It is the third largest economy of the world in terms of purchasing power parity.
India’s GDP(2016) was 2.26 lakh crore USD and the growth rate is 7.1%
Ancient and medieval eras
For a continuous duration of nearly 1700 years, India is the top most economy constituting 35 to 40% of
world GDP.
West coast:
Maritime trade was carried out extensively between South India and Southeast and West Asia from early
times until around the fourteenth century AD. Both the Malabar and Coromandel coasts were the sites of
important trading centres from as early as the first century BC, used for import and export as well as transit
points between the Mediterranean region and southeast Asia.
Mughal era (1526–1793)
The Indian economy was large and prosperous under the Mughal empire, up until the 18th
century.
Sean Harkin estimates China and India may have accounted for 60 to 70 percent of world GDP in
the 17th century.
The Mughal economy functioned on an elaborate system of coined currency, land revenue and
trade. Gold, silver and copper coins were issued by the royal mints.
Agricultural production increased under Mughals with Indian agriculture being advanced
compared to Europe at the time, such as the widespread use of the seed drill among Indian
peasants before its adoption in European agriculture, and higher per-capita agricultural output
and standards of consumption.
The Mughal Empire had a thriving industrial manufacturing economy, with India producing about
25% of the world's industrial output up until 1750, making it the most important manufacturing
centre in international trade. Manufactured goods and cash crops from the Mughal Empire were
sold throughout the world.
Key industries included textiles, shipbuilding and steel, and processed exports
included cotton textiles, yarns, thread, silk, jute products, metal ware.
Cities and towns boomed under the Mughal Empire, which had a relatively high degree
of urbanisation for its time, with 15% of its population living in urban centres, higher than the
percentage of the urban population in contemporary Europe at the time and higher than
of British India in the 19th century.
In the early 18th century, the Mughal empire declined, as it lost western, central and parts of
south and north India to the Maratha, which integrated and continued to administer those
regions. The decline of the Mughal Empire led to decreased agricultural productivity, which
turn negatively affected the textile industry.
British era (1793–1947)
From the beginning of the 19th century, the British Eat India Company’s gradual expansion and
consolidation of power brought a major change in taxation and agricultural policies, which
tended to promote commercialisation of agriculture with a focus on trade, resulting in decreased
production of food crops, mass impoverishment and destitution of farmers, and in the short term,
led to famines. The economic policies of the British Raj caused a severe decline in
the handicrafts and handloom sectors, due to reduced demand and dipping employment
The result was a significant transfer of capital from India to England, which, due to the colonial
policies of the British, led to a massive drain of revenue rather than any systematic effort at
modernisation of the domestic economy.
Under British rule, India's share of the world economy declined from 24.4% in 1700
down to 4.2% in 1950.
India's GDP (PPP) per capita was stagnant during the Mughals and began to decline
prior to the onset of British rule.
India's share of global industrial output declined from 25% in 1750 down to 2% in
1900.[76] At the same time, the United Kingdom's share of the world economy rose from
2.9% in 1700 up to 9% in 1870.
The British East India Company, following their conquest of Bengal in 1757, had forced
open the large Indian market to British goods, which could be sold in India
without tariffs or duties, compared to local Indian producers who were heavily taxed,
while in Britain protectionist policies such as bans and high tariffs were implemented to
restrict Indian textiles from being sold there, whereas raw cotton was imported from
India without tariffs to British factories which manufactured textiles from Indian cotton
and sold them back to the Indian market. British economic policies gave them a
monopoly over India's large market and cotton resources.
Pre-liberalisation period (1947–1991)
Jawarlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, along with the
statistician Prasanta Chandra, formulated and oversaw economic policy
during the initial years of the country's independence. They expected
favourable outcomes from their strategy, involving the rapid development
of heavy industries by both public and private sectors, and based on direct
and indirect state intervention. The rate of growth of the Indian economy in
the first three decades after independence was derisively referred to as the
Hindu rate of growth by economists, because of the unfavourable
comparison with growth rates in other Asian countries
Since 1965, the use of high yielding variety of seeds, increased fertilisers and
improved irrigation facilities collectively contributed to the Green revolution,
which improved the condition of agriculture by increasing crop productivity,
improving crop patterns and strengthening forward and backward linkages
between agriculture and industry.
Subsequently, the Emergency under which income tax levels at one point rose
to a maximum of 97.5% – a world record for non-communist economies –
started diluting the earlier efforts.
Post-liberalisation period (since 1991)
The collapse of the Soviet Union, which was India's major trading partner,
and the Gulf war, which caused a spike in oil prices, resulted in a major
balance-of-payments crisis for India, which found itself facing the prospect
of defaulting on its loans. India asked for a $1.8 billion bailout loan from the
(IMF), which in return demanded de-regulation.
In response, the Narsimha Rao government, including Finance
Minister Manmohan Singh, initiated economic reforms in 1991. The reforms
reduced tariffs and interest rates and ended many public monopolies,
allowing automatic approval of FDI in many sectors. By the turn of the 21st
century, India had progressed towards a free-market economy, with a
substantial reduction in state control of the economy and increased financial
liberalisation. This has been accompanied by increases in life expectancy,
literacy rates and food security, although urban residents have benefited
more than rural residents
Sectors
Agriculture
The science or practice of farming, including cultivation of
the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals
to provide food, wool, and other products.
Agriculture
Pharmaceuticals
The Indian pharmaceutical industry has grown in recent years to become a major
manufacturer of health care products to the world.
India produced about 8% of the global pharmaceutical supply in 2011 by value,
including over 60,000 generic brands of medicines. The industry grew from $6 billion in
2005 to $36.7 billion in 2016(1.5% of GDP)
It is one of the fastest-growing industrial sub-sectors and a significant contributor of
India's export earnings. The state of Gujarat has become a hub for the manufacture
export of pharmaceuticals.
Engineering
Engineering is the largest sub-sector of India's industrial sector, by GDP, and the third-
largest by exports.
It includes transport equipment, machine tools, capital goods, transformers, switchgears,
furnaces, and cast and forged parts for turbines, automobiles and railways.
India is the largest producer and the largest market for tractors, accounting for 29% of
global tractor production in 2013. India is the 12th-largest producer and 7th-largest
consumer of machine tools.[171]
The automotive manufacturing industry contributed $79 billion (4% of GDP) and
employed 6.76 million people (2% of the workforce) in 2016
Gems and jewellery
India is one of the largest centres for polishing diamonds and gems and
manufacturing jewellery.
The particular strength of this sub-sector is in precision cutting, polishing and
processing small diamonds (below one carat.
India is also a hub for processing of larger diamonds, pearls and other precious
stones. Statistically, 11 out of 12 diamonds set in any jewellery in the world are cut
cut and polished in India. It is also a major hub of gold and other precious-metal-
based jewellery. Domestic demand for gold and jewellery products is another
of India's GDP.
It is also one of the two largest consumer of gold, after crude oil and petroleum
products
The industry contributes about 7% of India's GDP, and is a major source of its
foreign-exchange earnings
Textile
Textile industry contributes about 4 per cent to the country's GDP.
India's textile industry has transformed in recent years from a declining sector to a
rapidly developing one.
After freeing the industry in 2004–2005 from a number of limitations, primarily
financial, the government permitted massive investment inflows, both domestic and
foreign.
Ludhiana produces 90% of woollens in India and is known as the Manchester of India.
Tirupur has gained universal recognition as the leading source of hosiery, knitted
garments, casual wear and sportswear.
Expanding textile centres such as Ichalkaranji enjoy one of the highest per-capita
incomes in the country.
India's cotton farms, fibre and textile industry provides employment to 45 million
in India.
Services
Foreign trade is nothing but trade between the different countries of the world. It is also called as
International trade.
It consists of imports, exports and entrepot. The inflow of goods in a country is called import trade
whereas outflow of goods from a country is called export trade. Many times goods are imported for
the purpose of re-export after some processing operations. This is called entrepot trade.
Until the liberalisation of 1991, India was largely and intentionally isolated from world markets, to
protect its economy and to achieve self-reliance. Foreign trade was subject to import tariffs, export
taxes and quantitative restrictions, while foreign direct investment(FDI) was restricted.
India's exports were stagnant for the first 15 years after independence.
Need and Importance of Foreign Trade
Labour specialisation.
Optimum allocation and utilisation of resources
Equality of prices:
Prices can be stabilised by foreign trade. It helps to keep the demand and supply position
stable, which in turn stabilises the prices, making allowances for transport and other
marketing expenses.
Availability of multiple choices:
Foreign trade helps in providing a better choice to the consumers. It helps in making
available new varieties to consumers all over the world.
Ensures quality and standard goods:
Foreign trade is highly competitive. To maintain and increase the demand for goods, the
exporting countries have to keep up the quality of goods. Thus quality and standardised
goods are produced.
Generate employment opportunities
Facilitate economic development
Imports facilitate economic development of a nation. This is because with the import of capital
goods and technology, a country can generate growth in all sectors of the economy, i.e.
agriculture, industry and service sector.
Current trends:
Demonitisation
On November 8, 2016, the Indian government declared that the 500 and 1000
rupee notes will be stripped of their status as legal tender effective from midnight.
These notes accounted for 86 percent of the country’s cash supply by value.
Citizens were given time till December 31, 2016 to deposit their old currency notes
and exchange them for the new currency notes of rupee 500 and 2000.
The government’s aim was to root out counterfeit currency, fight tax evasion, curb
inflation, eliminate black money and terror-funding, and to promote a cashless
economy.
Impact Of Demonetisation On The Indian
Economy
Goods and services tax was introduced to put an end to multiple taxes like CST,
VAT, service tax, sales tax, central sales tax which are levied on different
products, starting from the source of manufacturing till it reaches to the end
consumer which makes movement of goods and doing business very hard.
At present goods and services are taxed differently and also at many levels but
after the GST the goods and services will be treated equally and multiple level
taxation will be significantly reduce this will eventual lead to less corruption.
GST will reduce complexity in taxation and help businesses. Most of the company
don’t want to manufacture goods in India because of complexities in the
taxes they eventually try to find some shortcuts and this often leads to more
corruption
Usage of PAN and Aadhar will be more frequent and will be required to file GST
returns, this will help the income tax department to track transactions, which it is
unable to do today and furthur data will be shared between multiple administrative
authorities such as RBI, import etc. There can be more data mapping for audit by the
revenue authorities. Bringing sectors like, real estate and precious metals such as gold
sectors within the ambit of GST will help to track tax defaulters in these sectors.
The dual monitoring structure proposed within GST, involving the Centre and the
states will also curb income tax evasions and corruption. All data will be visible to state
as well as central government officers. It would be difficult to hide anything or help any
corrupt practices.
Advantages of good and services tax(GST)
Increase in government revenue.
The cost of doing business will significantly reduce.
There will be huge reduction in manufacturing cost of products.
GST will remove 17 indirect tax levies.
Many businesses create warehouses in different states due to difference in tax rates but now
with GST the difference between states will vanish.
It will give a boost to India which can be as much as 2% increase in growth rate.
GST will be monitored by both state and central government officers so there are very little
chances of escaping from paying the taxes.
Disadvantages of goods and services tax (GST)
Tax rate for services is very high thus it will drive services cost to a new high which
includes telecom, airlines. The proposed 18% is higher than many countries such
China, Singapore, Malaysia etc.
Agriculture:
India has the second-largest amount of arable land, after the US, with 52% of total land under
cultivation.
However, agricultural output lags far behind its potential.
The low productivity in India is a result of several factors.
According to the World Bank, India's large agricultural subsidies are distorting what farmers grow and
hampering productivity-enhancing investment.
Over-regulation of agriculture has increased costs, price risks and uncertainty, and governmental intervention
in labour, land, and credit are hurting the market.
Infrastructure such as rural roads, electricity, ports, food storage, retail markets and services remain
inadequate.
The average size of land holdings is very small, with 70% of holdings being less than one hectare (2.5 acres)
in size.
Irrigation facilities are inadequate, as revealed by the fact that only 46% of the total cultivable land was
irrigated as of 2016, resulting in farmers still being dependent on rainfall, specifically the monsoon season,
which is often inconsistent and unevenly distributed across the country
Corruption:
Corruption has been a pervasive problem in India.
Transparency International ranked India at 95th place amongst 183 countries in perceived levels of
public sector corruption.
By 2016, India saw a reduction in corruption and its ranking improved to 79th place.
In 1996, bureaucracy and the Licence Raj were suggested as a cause for the institutionalised
corruption and inefficiency.
India's absence rates are among the worst in the world; one study found that 25% of public sector
teachers and 40% of government-owned public-sector medical workers could not be found at the
workplace.
India has an underground economy, with a 2006 report alleging that India topped the worldwide list
for black money with almost $1,456 billion stashed in Swiss banks.
Computerisation of services, various central and state vigilance commissions, and the 2005 RTI –
which requires government officials to furnish information requested by citizens or face punitive
– have considerably reduced corruption and opened avenues to redress grievances.
Education:
India has made progress increasing the primary education attendance rate and
expanding literacy to approximately three-fourths of the population. India's
literacy rate had grown from 52.2% in 1991 to 74.04% in 2011.
However, the literacy rate of 74% is lower than the worldwide average and the
country suffers from a high drop-out rate.
Literacy rates and educational opportunities vary by region, gender, urban and
rural areas, and among different social groups.
The right to education at elementary level has been made one of the
rights under the eighty-sixth Amendment of 2002, and legislation has been
enacted to further the objective of providing free education to all children.[381]
Economic disparities:
Six low-income states – Assam, Chhattisgarh, Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar
Pradesh – are home to more than one-third of India's population.
Severe disparities exist among states in terms of income, literacy rates, life expectancy and
living conditions.
The five-year plans, especially in the pre-liberalisation era, attempted to reduce regional
disparities by encouraging industrial development in the interior regions and distributing
industries across states. The results have been discouraging as these measures increased
inefficiency and hampered effective industrial growth.
The more advanced states have been better placed to benefit from liberalisation, with well-
developed infrastructure and an educated and skilled workforce, which attract the
manufacturing and service sectors.
Economic and population growth :
India is home to 1.34 billion people – 18% of the world’s population. It will have
overtaken China as the world’s most populous country by 2024.
It has the world’s largest youth population, but isn’t yet fully capturing this potential
demographic dividend – over 30% of India's youth are NEETs (not in employment,
education or training.
Conclusion
With 1.27 billion people and the world's third-largest economy in terms of purchasing
power, India's recent growth and development has been one of the most significant
achievements of our times. Over the six and half decades since independence, the
country has brought about a landmark agricultural revolution that has transformed the
nation from chronic dependence on grain imports into a global agricultural powerhouse
that is now a net exporter of food. Life expectancy has more than doubled, literacy rates
have quadrupled, health conditions have improved. India will soon have the largest and
youngest workforce the world has ever seen. At the same time, the country is in the
midst of a massive wave of urbanization as some 10 million people move to towns and
cities each year in search of jobs and opportunity. It is the largest rural-urban migration
of this century. Massive investments will be needed to create the jobs, housing, and
infrastructure to meet soaring aspirations and make towns and cities more livable and
green.
— World Bank: India Country Overview 2013
Thank you