Economic development in India: challenges and perspectives c.1

India is presently passing through a critical phase in its development process. Challenges of development and structural transformation have become multifold as the new millennium dawns. The imperatives of search for new paradigms of development have increased since it is being increasingly realised that the received theories and strategies of development are fast losing relevance in the changing context of social, technological, cultural, political, and economic environment. With revolutions in the field of communication technology, interdependence among the world communities has significantly increased.

The task of fostering welfare of the peoples of a nation is closely linked to the life styles and resource use of the different segments of the world community. Economic crisis in one part of the world gets easily transmitted to the other parts of the world due to the growing integration of the different nations in the world economic framework. The gap between the rich and the poor seems to be widening despite the rapid strides of resource movements and ease in communication.

Comparison of the various parameters of development reveals that India is still far behind in relation to the levels of achievements realised in many other developing countries, in particular China, Korea, and other East Asian developing countries. India has to develop an ambitious vision of "catching up" with the rest of the world and evolve its own development strategy which is relevant for its social, economic and cultural settings. This volume contains essays on diverse aspects of challenges of economic development in India.