A History of Economic Policy in India
Crisis, Coalitions, and Contingency

An immersive, accessible yet rigourous book that provides an understanding of the Indian economy through analysing economic policies.

Rahul De (Author)

9781009362672, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 January 2024

204 pages
23.7 x 15.8 x 1.7 cm, 0.41 kg

Economic Policy in Independent India provides an immersive, accessible yet rigorous understanding of the Indian economy through a political economy analysis of economic policies. It provides a birds-eye view of the politics, context, and ideas that shaped major economic policies in independent India and argues that they are the product of crisis, coalitions, and contingency - not necessarily choice. Each chapter focuses on specific political regimes: Colonial Rule, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, liberalisation under coalition governments, the UPA Government, and the NDA Government. The book evaluates how well a government executed its policies based on the economic and political constraints it faced, rather than economic outcomes. Using theories to make sense of the economy, political ideology, historical conditions, and international context, the book's framework provides multiple perspectives and analyses economic policies as an outcome of interactions between dynamics in the economy.

List of Figures and Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The Colonial Economy: 1776–947
2. The Drive to Industrialize under Nehru's Leadership: 1950–1966
3. The Turn to Populism under Indira Gandhi: 1967–1979
4. The Early Liberalization Years: 1980–2003
5. Maturity of Reforms: Liberalization under UPA Government: 2004–14
6. Reforms under the NDA Government: 2014–2019
Index.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP]