Understanding Reforms

This book reviews the background, context, and timing of the economic reforms since July 1991 to showcase the fascinating details on the results achieved in the last twenty years. The authors critically analyse the growth strategy under Nehruvian socialism and the slow growth rate of the Indian economy and, thus, draw attention to the factors that led to reforms. The authors also describe how reforms were sustained in a low-income economy with large diversities and how they successfully survived the emergence of several coalition governments at the Centre as well as the increasing regionalization of Indian politics. This book shows how reforms unleashed India's latent entrepreneurship through increasingly liberalized competitive markets and enabled faster and sustained economic growth. It takes stock of specific reforms initiatives undertaken by the government. This paperback edition includes updates on reforms undertaken in the past five years; a tribute to Suresh D. Tendulkar; and a new preface.