About the Book

Understanding the drivers and inhibitors of economic growth is critical for promoting development in less developed countries, including India. This book examines economic growth in India from 1951 to the present, challenging many accepted orthodox views. It argues that growth and stagnation should be considered in medium time periods, and that the precise role of the state, in relation to particular historical and political-economic circumstances, is more important that the continuing overall level of state involvement or disengagement. It argues that the state has a key role in many areas including allocating financial surplus in an efficient way to the optimal investment projects, in encouraging learning and innovation especially through funding the long time period necessary for new technologies to be mastered, and in building institutions, including political parties, through which conflict can managed between the different losers and rent-seekers affected by economic changes. It shows how over time and in periods of growth and stagnation the state in India acted in key areas, and how the actions of the state had a profound impact on economic outcomes. Overall, the book makes a major contribution to understanding the economic history of development in India and to understanding the role of the state in economic development more generally.