Online published on 11 January, 2013.
After gaining political independence in 1947, India followed the path of state- led economic planning to establish a socialistic society. This experiment was over by 1991 and a free market economy that was joined to the global economy through free flow of international capital was created. This measure succeeded and India came to be seen as a potential economic superpower in current times. Not manufacturing industries but services today make the largest contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) of India and agriculture contributes only 14% to GDP.
If we are to understand this remarkable journey of India, we have to study its roots in the form of the economic changes that took place in the country in the 18th and 19th centuries. Seeds of modernity were sown in the fertile (but exhausted) Indian soil then and they are coming to fruition now, after a prolonged period of upheaval, misery and poverty.
This note has been prepared to draw attention to those initial changes in the traditional Indian society. It focuses on only the commercial and business world. The note might be useful as a base. Its further extension in time or detail could be instructive. Commerce/business studies proceed in an historic fashion in our university as well as professional studies system.
