Economic development planning and policy in India: India and the world economy v.10

This Volume Ten studies the position of India in the world economy. During the four decades of planning the Indian economy has made significant strides in terms of agricultural growth, of establishment of diversified industrial structure and of the growth of technical man power, but it has succeeded neither in becoming self-reliant nor in achieving the basic goals of abolition of poverty and unemployment.

The rate of growth of nearly all the major parameters of economic development during the four decades of planning has been generally lower in India than in the developed countries. It is only in population that the growth rate in India is higher than the world. Despite notable advances, India has regressed in relative terms within the community of nations. And within the nation itself, the inequalities of income, wealth and economic power has increased sharply. However, the performance of the economy in the recent past has renewed optimism in the public mind and they are hopeful that India would enter the 21st century as a self-reliant industrial country capable of providing for the vast majority of its population.