Chapter 1 pre independence era(before 1947):-

Even Before the independence of India we had some businessman and industrialist like Dwarkanath Tag
ore, Jamsetji Tata, Dinshaw Maneckji Petit etc. So there was some space for India in this sector before w
e got independence and although Britishers build the infrastructure and
logistics communications for their benefit, it also helped us. This small lead before independence helped l
ot in the development of Indian economy and even though no one talks about it, India was the reachest c
ountry in world in pre and post vedic period by sharing more 70 percent of
the total worlds GDP, however, by the end of British rule, India’s economy represented a much smaller pr
oportion of global GDP. In 1820, India’s GDP was 16% of the global GDP. By 1870, it had fallen to 12%, a
nd by 1947 to 4%. According to Britishers data book they looted more 30trillion
us dollars of wealth from India and obviously it more than that because they will try to hide it. But even wit
h the downfall we still were good in production of raw materials like cotton, jute etc and also thanks to our
farmers, agriculture sector was the backbone of Indian economy even in
that days. So overall We did have small lead in some Industries than some other countries which helped
us to grow further.

Chapter 2 after independence era:-(after 1947)

After 1947 our condition was not something that we can call good, partition of India , ethnic and religious
divisions, possibilities of riots, Conservative mindsets of people etc…,
These were the people and policies that helped in The development Of Indian economy

1. Jawaharlal Nehru: So to deal with the imbalanced situation of India, the first prime minister of India cam
e in spotlight to handle the situation. As the first Prime Minister of India, Nehru was instrumental in setting
the economic direction of the country He focused on industrialization
through the adoption of a mixed economy approach, where both public and private sectors coexisted. Th
e government played a substantial role in building infrastructure, heavy industries, and institutions of high
er learning.

Although reforms done by Jawhar lal nehru did helped in the development of Indian Economy but still it w
asn’t enough and The GDP growth rate of India was only 3percent in the 1960s. The country’s per capita i
ncome grew by an average of less than 1 percent a year between 1966 and
1980 a rate that was too low to make a dent in the country’s massive poverty. Thirty-five years after indep
endence, India’s leadership had yet to achieve, to any significant degree, its pledge of lifting living standar
ds.
India had two options back then either join Russia’s team or USA’s team, but we developed a new policie
s for independence we created a third team i.e. 3rd world with Egypt which resulted in neutral relationship
with these big economic giants. Since the mid-1980s, India has slowly opened
up its markets through economic liberalization. After more fundamental reforms since 1991 and their rene
wal in the 2000s, India has progressed towards a free market economy. The Indian economy is still perfor
ming well, with foreign investment and looser regulations driving significant
growth in the country.

The one policy by government which was also one main factor in Indian economic development was:

2. Five-Year Plans: The Indian government adopted a series of Five-Year Plans, inspired by the Soviet m
odel, to outline the country’s development goals and allocate resources accordingly. These plans aimed a
t achieving self-sufficiency in various sectors including agriculture, industry,
and education.

Now another factor through which Indian economy grew was:

3. Agriculture sector:Indian economy under the British rule was fundamentally agrarian. About 85 per cent
of the country’s population lived mostly in villages and derived livelihood directly or indirectly from agricult
ure. But being an overly populated country lead to shortages in food but
agricultural reforms and Initiatives like the Green Revolution, which introduced high-yield varieties of crop
s and modern agricultural techniques, led to a significant increase in agricultural production and food self-
sufficiency.

Here are some of the revolutions:

Black Revolution Related with petroleum production

Blue Revolution Related with fish production
Brown Revolution Related with leather production
Golden Revolution Related with overall horticulture, honey and fruits productions
Green Revolution Related with agriculture production
Grey Revolution Related with fertilizers
Pink Revolution Meat and poultry production
Silver Revolution Related with egg production
White Revolution Related with dairy and milk production
Yellow Revolution Related with oil seed production

The boost India really needed was in its Industrial Sector:

4. Industrial sector:India could not develop a sound industrial base even while carrying the legacy of chur
ning out the best handicraft stuff in the world – it declined rapidly and no corresponding modern industrial
base was allowed to take its place but the Industrial Policy Resolutions of
1948 and 1956 laid the foundation for industrial development in India. The government emphasized the d
evelopment of key industries such as steel, chemicals, machinery, and heavy engineering. The Indian gov
ernment established a range of public sector enterprises (PSEs) in industries
such as steel, coal, telecommunications, and energy. These enterprises aimed to promote industrializatio
n, generate employment, and ensure strategic control over key sectors of the economy.
Another strategy could have been to rely on private enterprise for industrial development, while the gover
nment focused its resources on investments in infrastructure, public health, and education—areas not wel
l served by the private sector. Though the leaders were aware of the
dynamism of the private sector and the existence of India’s vibrant entrepreneurial class, they adopted a s
trategy involving a major role for the private sector because of their commitment to establishing a socialist
model of society they considered morally superior. As things eventually
turned out the country came around to adopting this strategy, which was rejected earlier in the 1990s. Th
e particular nature of the chosen strategy of development can be understood by comparing it with alternati
ve strategies that could be adopted. One such strategy would be to prioritize
public investment not in industry but in agriculture, which was the livelihood of more than three-quarters o
f its people. Investment in agriculture takes the form of irrigation projects, education of farmers in scientific
methods of agriculture, construction of rural roads and storage facilities
reduced then increasing incomes could be used to finance industrial development Planners adopted suc
h a strategy because the country would have to continue to rely on imports of industrial goods needed to
stop industrialization, while leaders were impatient for marked industrialization
with progress. People who argued for the priority of agriculture over industry were dismissed as being rea
ctionaries and possibly stooges of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Now the industrial sector had gone some boost, the government‘s plan for financing expenditures was the
creation of new money, which resulted in significant inflation. The government feared a political backlash
to price increases. As a result, it resorted to price controls on essential
commodities, which flourished black markets, so the government resorted to increasingly intrusive regulati
ons and engaged in cat-and-mouse games with traders At one point, the government even tried to nation
alize the wholesale trade in grain, but without much success. Attempts
to control prices have generally failed, while they have captured much public and private attention. Plans f
or reforming agricultural institutions did not extend. The push for land redistribution ran into political oppos
ition and clashed with due process requirements, so up to 5 percent of
 the land was actually redistributed Even the creation of agricultural cooperatives did not materialize due t
o difficulties in organization and lack of enthusiasm on the ground. Agricultural production barely kept pac
e with population growth, and the country’s food security remained precarious.
The flaw in prioritizing industry over agriculture for public investments became clear when the country suf
fered a food crisis in the mid-1960s, requiring immediate large-scale imports of subsidized grain from the
US.

Every thing was fluctuating but the import substitution and export promotion In the early years after indep
endence, India followed an import substitution strategy to reduce reliance on imported goods. However, b
y the 1990s, economic reforms shifted the focus to export-oriented growth to integrate
India into the global economy. so import substitution and export promotion was the 5th factor Indian Econ
omy

Also, the 6th factor:

6.1991 Financial Reforms: Facing payment crisis, India sent the then Finance Minister Dr. A.K. Comprehe
nsive economic reforms implemented under Manmohan Singh These reforms, collectively known as the N
ew Economic Policy or Liberalization-Privatization-Globalization (LPG) reforms,
opened up the economy to foreign investment, reduced trade barriers and privatized companies had a lar
ge share.

Now comes the role of IT and service sector:

7. Information Technology (IT) and Services Sector:The IT industry emerged as a significant contributor to
India’s economy in the 1990s. The availability of a skilled English-speaking workforce, coupled with a fav
orable regulatory environment, helped India become a global hub for IT services,
outsourcing, and software development.However, this sector is still in’s development stage.

The step in growth of Indian Economy was:

8. Demographic Advantage and Infrastructure Development: India’s large and youthful population provide
d a demographic dividend, which means that a significant portion of the population was of working age. Pr
operly harnessed, this could lead to higher economic productivity, increased savings,
and investment and also India invested in improving transportation networks, energy generation, telecom
munications, and other infrastructure to support economic growth. This included the construction of roads,
railways, ports, and power plants.

Now seed which was planted before started growing:-

9. Services Sector Growth: The services sector, including IT, telecommunications, finance, healthcare, an
d education, has been a significant contributor to India’s economic growth. This shift from traditional indus
tries to services has contributed to higher GDP growth and increased employment
opportunities.

Another major factor of growth was globalization.:-

10. Globalization and Trade Agreements: India’s participation in international trade agreements and its gr
owing integration into the global economy have facilitated the export of goods and services and attracted f
oreign investment. However we also made sure to protect our local companies
and made a proper trade policy and agreement for MNCs.

The last factor which contributed in Indian economy was:-

11. Social Welfare Programs: Alongside economic development, the Indian government introduced variou
s social welfare programs aimed at poverty reduction, rural development, education, and healthcare.

Important note for reader:-

It’s important to acknowledge that while India has achieved substantial economic progress, challenges su
ch as income inequality, unemployment, regional disparities, and environmental sustainability persist. The
trajectory of India’s economic development remains an ongoing
 process influenced by domestic and global factors and everything written above is just a summary of Indi
a’s struggle to become 4th biggest economy in the world

Sources:Chat GPT, Wikipedia, PW IAS, google.com, asianstudies.org, NCERT textbooks