PART -I

1. Indian Economy Since Independence: Major Features
Uma Kapila

Introduction • The India of 1947 • Distribution of National Income and Workforce Sectorwise • The Planning Era • Where India Stands Today? • Strengths of the Economy • Some Major Challenges.

PART -II
Growth, Development and Structural Change

2. Planning and the Market (Ed. Notes)

Structural Constraints and the Development Strategy • Role of the State as Visualised in the Fifties • Evolution of Strategy and Priorities • Changing Perceptions • The Role of Planning • Redefining the Role of State • The Government, The State and The Market • Cooperative Action.

3. Growth and Development Experience (Ed. Notes)

The Performance • Rates of Economic Growth in India during the 20th Century • Two Phases of Growth: Assessment of Performance; Causal Factors • What Next? • A Vision for the 11th Plan • Human Development: Human Development Index; Progress and Setbacks in Human Development; Links between Growth and Human Development • India—A Globalisation Success Story with a Mixed Record on Human Development • National Human Development Report—2001 • State of Human Development in India: State Level; Economic Growth and Poverty • Growth and Structural Change • Structural Change in Terms of Industrial Distribution of Work Force and Occupational Structure • Occupation Structure • Environment and Development: Growth versus the Environment • Consequences of Environmental Plunder • Selected Indicators of India's Urban Environment • Disparities in Growth and Development • Implications of Inter-State Inequality • Inter-State Sectoral Composition of Growth • Causal Factors: Investment; Technical Change; Institutions and Governance • The Way Ahead • Indian Development Experience in International Perspective: India and sub-Saharan Africa: Selected Development Indicators; Learning from the Experiences of Other Countries • India's Internal diversities: A Rich Source of Insights • Kerala in International Perspective • Selected Regional Perspectives: Learning from the Diversity of Development Experience; Political Action and Rural Development in West Bengal; Social Opportunities in Himachal Pradesh • Conclusion.

4. The Growth Rate Mystery
K.B.L. Mathur

Liberalisation or Something Else? • Is Post-1991 Reform Growth Less Fragile? • What Next?

5. The Economic Performance of the States in the Post Reforms Period
Montek S. Ahluwalia

Growth Performance of the States: Growth Rates of SDP; Implications for Inter-State Inequality • Trends in Poverty in the States • Implications for Policy • Investment and Growth in Individual States; Human Resources; Quality of Infrastructure; The Policy Environment and Governance • The Problem of State Finances • The Role of the Central Government.

6. Growing Regional Disparities in Development in India : Post-Reform Experience and Challenges Ahead - C.H. Hanumantha Rao

Sectoral Composition of Growth • Causal Factors: Investment; Technical Change; Institutions and Governance • The Way Ahead.
 

PART -III
Issues in Indian Economic Policy

7. Population and Human Resource Development (Ed. Notes)

Population Trends • Fertility Rates • Concerns about Population Growth • Gender Equity and the Demographic Transition • Population Policy since 1947; National Population Policy, 2000; Objectives of National Population Policy • Implications of Mortality decline for the Future • Human Resource Development • Education Policy in India; Public Expenditure and Education Policy • Health Care as a Social Responsibility • Tamil Nadu: The Success Story • Enabling Factors.

8. Demographic Aspects of Development : The Indian Experience
Pravin M. Visaria

Population Growth in Historical Perspective • Fertility: Age at Marriage; Marital Fertility; Practice of Contraception; Some Critical Questions; Contraceptive Prevalence in Comparative Terms; Rise in Contraceptive Use and Fall in Birth Rates • Recognition of the Population Problem; Possible Pathways to a Faster Decline in Fertility: Urbanisation; Workforce Participation and Industrialisation; Literacy and School Enrolments; The Status of Indian Women; Infrastructure and Communication • Population Projections • Age Distribution of the Indian Population • The Experience of Kerala and Tamil Nadu • Policy Shifts Essential for the Tasks Ahead.

9. Growth, Unemployment and Poverty (Ed. Notes)

Poverty and Unemployment • Poverty Estimates: The Selection of Poverty Lines • Growth and Poverty • Employment Perspective • Labour and Unemployment • Employment in the Organized Sector • Women in the Workforce • Educated Employment • Results of 61s Round of NSSO Survey • Indian Labour Laws and Labour Markets • Strategies and Policies for Employment Generation • Eleventh Plan Approach Paper on Employment • National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 • Poverty Alleviation, Employment Generation and Basic Services Programmes: Current Status.

10. Growth, Poverty and Reforms
Jagdish Bhagwati

11. Poverty and Inequality in India: A Re-Examination
Angus Deaton, Jean Drèze

Economic Inequality in the Nineties • Growth, Poverty and Inequality • Aspects of Rising Inequality • Qualifications and Concerns; Food Consumption; Localised Impoverishment and Hidden Costs • Beyond Poverty Indexes.

12. Employment and Growth
C. Rangarajan

Structural Changes in the Economy • Current Scenario of Employment and Unemployment: Areas of Concern • Towards an Employment Strategy (i) Accelerating Growth; Sectoral Policies; (iii) Skill Development; (iv) Modifications in Labour Laws • Conclusion.

13. Macroeconomic Stabilisation: trade, Fiscal and Monetary Policy Issues
(Ed. Notes)

The Background • The Macroeconomic Crisis • Rationale for the Reforms • Macroeconomic Reforms • Structural Reforms: Implementation of the Agenda; Removal of QRs; Safety Net • Fiscal Adjustment and Stabilisation • Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act 2003 • Budgetary Developments in 2005-06 • Monetary Policy Issues • External Sector Management.

14. On Correcting Fiscal Imbalances in the Indian economy: Some Perspectives
Mihir Rakshit

Introduction • On the Economic Impact and Sustainability of Debt and Deficit • Budgetary Objectives and Instruments • Fiscal Malady in India: Diagnoses and Remedies • Fiscal Restructuring Programme • Conclusions.

15. Agriculture : Issues in development and Policy (Ed. Notes)

Linkage between Agriculture and Industrial Sectors • The Institutional Context • Economic Arguments in Favour of Land Reform • The New Technology: The Role of Technology in Indian Agriculture • Limits to Growth: Some Tentative Evidence; Major Factors Affecting the Growth Potential: (i) Lack of Long Term Policy Perspective (ii) Neglect of Capital Formation (iii) Lagging Research and Development Efforts (iv) Technology Generation and Dissemination (v) Rising Soil Degradation and Over-exploitation of Ground Water (vi) Degradation of Natural Resources (vii) Subsidies vis-à-vis Investments and Farm Support Systems (viii) Agriculture's Terms of Trade and Farm Price Volatility • Irrigation: Post-Independence Trends; Uneven Access to Irrigation; Areas of Concern; Needed Corrections; Improving Water Use Efficiency; Water Governance; Economic Incentives for Efficient Use; Irrigation in the 11th Plan; Rationalising Subsidies and Strengthening Input and Support Services; Diversification and Food Security • Agricultural Price Policy • Public Distribution System (PDS) • Food Security: Projections of 11th Plan Outlays.

16. Modernising Indian Agriculture: A Review of Critical Policy Issues
V.M. Rao and P.D. Jeromi

Reforming Policymaking: An Agenda of Priority Tasks • Introduction • Modernisation of Agriculture: Goals and Objectives • A Review of Critical Policy Issues • Capital Formation; Agricultural Credit; Agricultural Insurance; Globalisation; Watershed Development • Research and Development; Development of Non-Farm Sector • Modernisation of Agriculture: The Priorities at a Glance.

17. Food and Nutrition Security of the Poor: Emerging Perspectives and Policy Issues - R. Radhakrishna

Cereal Consumption • Food Consumption and Calorie Intake • Nutritional Status: Child Malnutrition; Chronic Energy Deficiency among Adults • Poverty and Malnutrition: Determinants of Malnutrition; Food-Based Safety Nets • Concluding Observations.

18. Food Policy in india: Some Longer Term Issues
Mihir Rakshit

Some Basic Questions: Why not Dismantle PDS and all that? What should the Food Policy Try to Secure? • Designing an Optimal System of Public Intervention • Policy Instruments and Behaviour of the Food Economy • Instruments and Objectives • Inter-year Consumption Smoothing • Minimum Support Price, Rationing and Buffer Stocking • Food Policy in an Open Economy • Policy Instruments • Buffer Stocking and Food Security • On How to Make PDS Redundant.

19. Industrial Development and Policies Since 1947 (Ed. Notes)

Extent and Pattern of Industrialisation during the British Rule • Industrial Scene at Independence • Industrial Control Regime; Performance of the Industrial Licensing System • The Policy Regime in the 1990s • New Economic Policy; Opening up to Foreign Investment • Industrial Growth: Phases of Industrial Growth; Industrial Growth in the 90s; Comparative Growth Rates in the 80s and the 90s • Revision of IIP Series • Relative Contribution of Sectors to Total Industrial Production • Profile of Industrial Growth: Shift in Favour of Registered Manufacturing; Decline in Employment Growth in Organised Manufacturing; The Stagnant Share of Manufacturing Sector • The Manufacturing Slowdown: Factors Causing the Industrial Slowdown; Some Hypotheses: Cyclical Factors in Industrial Slowdown; Structural Factors: Infrastructure Constraints in the Industrial Sector; Industrial Performance and Credit Growth; Productivity Trends in the Manufacturing Sector • Recovery in Industrial Growth since 2002-03 • Industrial Policy: Recent Policy Initiatives; Industrial Sector, the Eleventh Five Year Plan; Micro and Small Enterprises; Foreign Direct Investment • Public Sector • Public Enterprise Policy • Privatisation • Prospects: Industrialisation and Development; World Class Infrastructure • Labour Laws.

20. Industrial Policy and Performance Since 1980: Which WaY now?
R. Nagaraj

Evolution of Policy Since 1980 • Industrial Performance, 1980-81 to 2001-02 • A Closer Look at the 1990s • Towards an Explanation • Policy Options and Constraints • Summary and Conclusions.

21. Public Versus Private Sector Neglect of Lessons of Economics in Indian Policy Formulation - B.S. Minhas

Introduction • Reasons for Market Failure: Externalities; Informational Deficiencies/Asymmetries; Market Failure and Government Intervention • Bureaucratic Failure • Market Failure and Public Sector Production • Private Versus Political Firms • Public Sector in India • State as a Private Trading Post • Commanding Heights of the Economy or Deep Swamps of Inefficiency • Ideology and Competition as Tools of Discipline • Some Concluding Remarks.

22. Fall in Organised Manufacturing Employment (A Brief Note)
R. Nagaraj

Facts • An Explanation • Implications • Conclusions.

23. Services in the Indian Growth Process (Ed. Notes)

Growth and Sectoral Shares, Cross Country Evidence and Indian Experience: Share of Services in GDP; Share of Services in Employment • Which Services have Grown Rapidly?: Fast Growers; Trend Growers; Contribution of Fast and Trend Growers to Services Growth • Factors Underlying the Services Growth: External Demand for Services • Structure of India's Services Exports; Services Trade • Services, GATS and Strategies for India • Summing up.

24. Foreign Trade: Issues and Policies (Ed. Notes)

Trade Policy: The Crisis of 1991: A Turning Point • Foreign Trade Performance • Trends in Merchandise Trade • Structural Changes in India’s Foreign Trade • Trends in Invisibles • India’s Balance of Payment Trends 1950-2006 • Sustainability of Current Account • Capital Account, External Debt and Exchange Rate: Approach, Developments and Issues • Committee on Capital Account Liberalisation (Chairman: S.S. Tarapore) • Foreign Investment; Magnitude; FPI; NRI Deposits; External Commercial Borrowings • Decline in Foreign Aid • Impact of Reforms on BoP • External Debt Management • Exchange Rate Management • Foreign Exchange Reserves: Approach, Developments and Issues • India and the WTO; The Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference at Hong Kong, (Dec. 13-18, 2005); And After (July 24, 2006) • Highlights of Foreign Trade Policy 2004-09 • Summing Up.

25. Foreign Direct Investment in India in the 1990s: Trends and Issues
R. Nagaraj

Introduction • Reforms in the 1990s • A Brief Analytical Review • Data on FDI and their Limitations • The Trends: FDI Approvals and Its Composition; Interpreting the Trends • A Comparison of FDI in India and China • A Preliminary Assessment: Focus on Domestic Market; Problems with Infrastructure Investment; Net Foreign Exchange Inflow; Technology Spillovers; Decline in Competition; Foreign Exchange Earnings; Brand Names; Loss of Bargaining Power in the Technology Market • Towards a Realistic FDI Policy • Summary and Conclusion.

26. Financial Sector Reforms and Monetary Policy: The Indian Experience
Rakesh Mohan

Introduction • Financial Sector and Monetary Policy: Objectives and Reforms: Banking Sector; Reforms in the Monetary Policy Framework; Financial Markets; Government securities Market; Foreign Exchange Market • Financial Sector and Monetary Policy Reforms: An Assessment—Banking Sector; Spread of Banking; Capital Position and Asset Quality; Competition and Efficiency; Productivity • Monetary Policy: Inflation; Challenges posed by large capital inflows; Credit Delivery • Some Emerging Issues: Growth Challenges for the Financial Sector; Greater Capital Market Openness: Some Issues; High Credit Growth and Monetary Policy • Concluding Observations.

PART -IV
Development Prospects 

27. India's Development Prospects: Looking Ahead (Ed. Notes)

Growth Performance • Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth • Strengths of the Economy • Some Major Challenges: (i) Regaining Agricultural Dynamism (ii) Changing Employment Patterns (iii) Providing Essential Public Services for the Poor (iv) Increasing Manufacturing Competitiveness (v) Developing Human Resources (vi) Protecting the Environment (vii) Improving Rehabilitation and Resettlement Practices (viii) Improving Governance • Disparities and Divides • Tasks Ahead: Launching the Second Generation of Reforms • The Political Economy of Reform • Integrating India's Economy with the World Economy • Issues and Priorities • Concluding Observations.

Statistical Appendix
Selected Economic and Social Indicators 1950-51 to 2005-2006.

C. Rangarajan.
Chairman, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council; formerly: Chairman, Twelfth Finance Commission; Governor, RBI, Ex-Member, Planning Commission.

C.H. Hanumantha Rao.
Chairman, Centre for Economic & Social Studies, Hyderabad; Ex-Member, Finance Commission and Planning Commission; formerly: Director, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi.

Mihir Rakshit.
Director, Monetary Research Project, Investment Credit Rating Agency (ICRA) Ltd., Kolkata.

Jagdish Bhagwati.
Professor of Economics, International Economics Research Centre, Columbia University, New York.

Jean Drèze.
Hony. Professor, Deptt. of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi.

Angus Deaton.
Professor of Economics & International Affairs, Princeton University, U.S.A.

R. Radhakrishna.
Director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.

B.S. Minhas (late). was Distinguished Scientist Emeritus, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi, and Member, Planning Commission.

R. Nagaraj.
Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.

Rakesh Mohan
Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai.

Pravin M. Visaria (late). was Director, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi.

V.M. Rao.
Visiting Fellow, Institute for Social & Economic Change, Bangalore.

P.D. Jeromi.
Asstt. Advisor, Dept. of Economic Analysis & Policy, Reserve Bank of India, Kochi.

K.B.L. Mathur.
Formerly: Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi.

Uma Kapila.
Reader, (Retd.) Department of Economics, Miranda House, University of Delhi. Presently, Senior Editor, Academic Foundation, New Delhi.