Economic Trends in India

Context Since 1990

Two interesting articles by the BBC. India is a rising economic powerhouse and a reigonally important country.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12557384

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12641776

Economy

Gross Domestic Product

• Rate of growth increased in 1990.
• Has grown by an average of 7% for the last 2 decades
• It became the world’s fastest growing major economy in 2014

Gross Domestic Product per capita

• GDP has risen faster than population growth so GDP per capita has increased
• So has GNI per capita- which almost doubled between 2006 and 2014.

Trade

As India has become more globalized and hence part of the global economy, the volumes of both its exports and imports have increased.

Key exports: Gems and jewellery, pharmaceutical products, transport equipment.

Key imports: Oil, gold and silver, electronic goods.

Asia is the main destination for India’s exports 51.6% of India’s products went to Asia in 2011-2012- mostly to China.

Shipping - ships transport 90% of goods between countries

Containerization - the UK imports textiles, clothing and footwear from India on container ships which are more efficient.

Aircraft technology - air transport is more expensive- Imports from India by air are 70 times more valuable than those transported by sea. (Jewellery, fresh fruit etc.)

Foreign Direct Investment- much of India’s growth has come from FDI which was encouraged by the government after 1991

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8w7Kv2aZPg

Trans National Companies- Many TNC’s have invested in the telecoms and service industry in India which has grown the most.

The Indian Government has been keen to encourage FDI to develop the country’s infrastructure.

In 2014-2015, the top two sources of FDI into India were Mauritius and Singapore.

A key indicator of India’s economic development is that Indian companies are investing an increasing amount of money abroad.

Economic Sectors

Importance of Economic Sectors

From 1980 to 2011:

• A large reduction in agriculture- from 37.2% of total GDP to 14.5%
• A small change in manufacturing from 16.9% to 18.4%
• A rapid increase in the contribution of services from 45.8% to 67.1%