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This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of poverty in India. It shows that regardless of which of the two official poverty lines we use, we see a steady decline in poverty in all states and for all social and religious groups.Accelerated growth between fiscal years 2004–2005 and 2009–2010 also led to an accelerated decline in poverty rates. Moreover, the decline in poverty rates during these years has been sharper for the socially disadvantaged groups relative to upper caste groups so that we now observe a narrowing of the gap in the poverty rates between the two sets of social groups. The paper also provides a discussion of the recent controversies in India regarding the choice of poverty lines.

This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of poverty in India. It shows that regardless of which of the two official poverty lines we use, we see a steady decline in poverty in all states and for all social and religious groups.Accelerated growth between fiscal years 2004–2005 and 2009–2010 also led to an accelerated decline in poverty rates. Moreover, the decline in poverty rates during these years has been sharper for the socially disadvantaged groups relative to upper caste groups so that we now observe a narrowing of the gap in the poverty rates between the two sets of social groups. The paper also provides a discussion of the recent controversies in India regarding the choice of poverty lines.

This text examines the evolution of Nehru's economic philosophy with socialism, self-sufficiency, & heavy-industry development at its core. Through extensive archival research, Arvind Panagariya reconstructs & reinterprets this history, paying attention to the administrative processes deployed to implement policies, contemporary economic thought, & important historical events not adequately covered in the existing literature. He assesses the evolution of Nehru's own political beliefs & the construction of the Nehru development model, the resulting regime & exclusionary nature of economic growth, & the lasting intellectual legacy of the Nehru-era socialism on politicians, civil servants, policy analysts, & businesspeople in the six decades since Nehru's death. This book tells the tale of a model with the near-unanimous approval of experts from all around the world at its inception & the impact of its failure.

"Its GDP having touched $2.6 trillion, India is poised to become the world's third largest economy in less than a decade. In doing so, it will have moved one step closer to reclaiming its pre-1820s glory when it accounted for one-sixth of the global output and ranked second in economic size. This rapid movement in the absolute size of the economy will be insufficient, however, to bring prosperity to India's vast population. Today, 44% of the country's workforce remains in agriculture and another 42% in tiny enterprises with fewer than 20 workers. Labour productivity of both sets of workers remains low and they live overwhelmingly on subsistence-level incomes. This book lays down a concise roadmap of reforms that would help the country transform and create well-paid jobs in industry and services for those with limited or no skills. It argues that creation of good jobs requires the emergence of medium and large enterprises in industry and services, especially labour-intensive sectors such as apparel, footwear and other light manufactures. India needs policies conducive to the growth of firms from small to medium, medium to large and large to larger still. They must compete in the global marketplace to help increase India's share in the world export market from less than 2% currently to 5 to 6% in a decade. Such policies include greater outward orientation, more flexible land, labour and capital markets, concerted effort to improve the quality of higher education, faster urbanization and improved governance at all levels"--

This volume offers a rousing defense of pro-free-trade policies and their benefits for developing countries. Through cross-country evidence and detailed case studies, Arvind Panagariya demonstrates the need for trade openness for sustained growth and poverty alleviation.

With a population of 1.2 billion, India is many countries. Ten of its states have populations equalling or exceeding that of the United Kingdom. Therefore, to fully understand the current experiment in economic reforms in the country, it must be studied it at the level of the state. In this spirit, the present book provides an analysis of how the national reforms have shaped the economies of different states in India.

Digital Revolution has been sweeping across the world over the last three decades. This revolution has spread far more rapidly, especially in developing countries, than was the case with either the Industrial or Agricultural Revolution. Indeed, the spread has been so rapid that China has become its major driver with India emerging as one as well. This paper is devoted to two aspects of the Digital Revolution as it impacts India: financial technology or fintech, and innovation and entrepreneurship. As in other countries, the spread of digital technologies has led to a dramatic transformation of financial infrastructure in India. On the one hand, this has improved efficiency and on the other it has led to increased financial inclusion. The government's payments system has evolved to a point that it can make payments directly to individuals and firms through bank accounts. Individuals are seamlessly able to transfer funds from their bank accounts to those of others. Businesses and customers can transact digitally in real time. Digital technologies have also helped democratize innovation and entrepreneurship. Unlike conventional technologies, digital innovations are less costly to commercialize on average. Scaling up of conventional innovations requires a large volume of investment. In contrast, many digital innovations lend themselves to scaling up at low costs. As a result, in the digital space, innovators themselves are often seen as turning into entrepreneurs. The sharp division between innovators and entrepreneurs that existed in the past has greatly diminished. I divide the paper into three parts. Part 1 focuses on the spread of financial technologies in India. Part 2 considers how the digital revolution has helped spawn and transform the nature of entrepreneurship in the country. Part 3 offers some concluding remarks.