essay on why india is still a developing country

Essay on India is a Developing Country

Students are often asked to write an essay on India is a Developing Country in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on India is a Developing Country

Introduction.

India, located in South Asia, is often referred to as a developing country. This means it’s in a phase of economic and social transformation.

Economic Growth

India’s economy is growing rapidly. It’s a hub for information technology and has a booming service sector. However, agriculture still employs many people.

Social Development

India is making strides in education and healthcare. Yet, challenges like poverty and illiteracy persist, indicating a need for further development.

Despite challenges, India’s progress is commendable. With continued efforts, it’s poised to achieve more growth and development.

250 Words Essay on India is a Developing Country

India, officially known as the Republic of India, is often categorized as a developing nation. Despite being the world’s largest democracy and the seventh-largest country by land area, its economic, social, and political aspects are still in a state of evolution.

Economic Perspective

From an economic viewpoint, India is a mixed bag. It is the world’s fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP, thanks to its robust sectors like IT, telecommunications, textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, steel, and aviation. However, it still grapples with issues like poverty, unemployment, and a significant informal economy.

Social Aspect

India’s social fabric is a rich tapestry of diverse cultures, languages, religions, and traditions. However, the country faces challenges such as illiteracy, gender inequality, and social discrimination. These issues, coupled with a high population density, make social development a complex task.

Political Landscape

India’s political structure is a federal parliamentary democratic republic, where the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. While the political system has been stable, corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency remain significant hurdles.

In conclusion, India is indeed a developing country, with a vast potential for growth and improvement. Its journey towards development is marked by both achievements and challenges. The nation’s future hinges on how effectively it can address its issues and capitalize on its strengths.

500 Words Essay on India is a Developing Country

India, a country rich in history, culture, and diversity, is classified as a developing nation by various global economic indicators. Despite being the world’s fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP, India is still grappling with numerous challenges that hinder its progress towards becoming a developed nation.

India’s Economic Landscape

India’s economy is a mixed bag of traditional agriculture, modern industries, and a multitude of services. The agricultural sector, although decreasing in its contribution to the GDP, still employs a significant portion of the population. The services sector, on the other hand, has seen a steady rise, contributing to over half of India’s GDP. The industrial sector, though growing, has yet to reach its potential due to issues like inadequate infrastructure and regulatory bottlenecks.

Challenges to Development

Despite impressive economic growth, India faces several critical challenges. Poverty and income inequality remain significant issues, with a large segment of the population living under the poverty line. Lack of access to quality education and healthcare, particularly in rural areas, further exacerbates these disparities.

Infrastructure development is another major challenge. Issues like inadequate transport facilities, inconsistent electricity supply, and lack of clean drinking water are prevalent, particularly in rural and underdeveloped regions.

The Demographic Dividend

India’s demographic profile presents both opportunities and challenges. With over 65% of its population under the age of 35, India has a vast pool of young, working-age individuals. This demographic dividend can propel economic growth if harnessed effectively. However, the lack of skills and opportunities, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas, could turn this potential asset into a liability.

Steps Towards Development

India is taking steps to address these challenges. The government has initiated several programs aimed at poverty alleviation, improving healthcare and education, and developing infrastructure. The ‘Make in India’ initiative is aimed at boosting the manufacturing sector and creating jobs. Similarly, the ‘Digital India’ initiative seeks to leverage technology to enhance governance and public services.

India’s journey from a developing to a developed nation is a complex process, requiring concerted efforts to address the numerous challenges it faces. However, with its vast resources, youthful population, and strategic initiatives, India has immense potential to transform its status from a developing to a developed nation. The journey may be long and arduous, but with consistent efforts and strategic planning, India can indeed realize its vision of becoming a global economic powerhouse.

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What really is a developed country? What India needs in coming decades?

Pm modi has said india must work toward becoming a developed nation by 2047. but what really is a developed country and what must change for india in the coming decades.

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In his Independence Day speech on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "We must work towards turning India into a developed nation by 2047." PM Modi spoke about India's achievements and challenges while rolling out this 25-year goal that he wants to be realised by the 100th year of the country's independence, with policies to support domestic production in power, defence and digital technology.

But what makes a country developed? What keeps India still in the category of developing nations? And what must we do to become developed?

We have all grown up reading in textbooks that India is a vikassheel (developing) and krishi-pradhan (primarily an agricultural economy) country. We have been aware that countries like the UK and France are developed.

READ | PM Modi ditches teleprompter, uses paper notes for Independence Day speech

We have basically been a third-world country after the end of the cold war in 1990 between the Western Bloc led by the capitalist US and other First-World (developed) nations, generally liberal democratic but tied to a network of authoritarian states, mostly their former colonies, and the Eastern Bloc led by the Soviet Union that influenced the Second World (communist and militarily powerful) and tied to a network of authoritarian states.

Even if we don't straightaway get into the international standards that define developed and developing nations, without much consensus though, we have a fairly good idea of what separates the two. In developed countries, a vast chunk of the population has access to basic requirements such as quality education, healthcare, and transport. There is apparent prosperity -- often symbolised by big cars and high residential and commercial towers, besides robust environmental protection -- and adherence to civic norms.

In a US city, for example, residents will be seen using separate bins to keep dry and wet waste. An automated mechanism is in place to pick up and dispose of what has been discarded. If a woman falls down while walking her pet and gets injured, she only has to dial a telephone number and medical help will come rushing. In a developing country, people in distress may not find immediate relief because cops are either overburdened or the criminal justice system is inefficient.

In developing countries like India, where there has been substantial progress in infrastructure development in the last 75 years, millions in villages even now go hungry and are devoid of schools, hospitals, roads and other such facilities. The situation even in cities is not too good, with mountains of garbage, inadequate piped sewerage networks that mean choked stormwater drains, polluting rivers and causing flooding on roads during the rains, besides water and electricity crises. While in the developed West, people vote on demands to make their lives better, or their countries more prestigious in the global order, politicians in India, essentially a country of villages, still play 'mai-baap' politics and offer handouts like ghee and bicycles to woo poor voters during elections.

DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING

• The Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or the monetary measure of all goods and services produced in a country in a year. Countries with a high GDP and per capita income (the amount of money earned per person) are considered developed.
• The level of industrialisation. Countries in which the tertiary (companies that provide services such as entertainment, financial, and retailers) and quaternary sectors of industry (knowledge-based activities such as information technology, research, and development, as well as consulting services and education) dominate are described as developed. Developed countries generally have more advanced post-industrial economies, meaning the service sector provides more wealth than the industrial sector.
• Other criteria are the scale of infrastructure, the general standard of living, and the Human Development Index (HDI). HDI focuses on indices for life expectancy and education and does not take into account factors such as the net wealth per capita or the relative quality of goods in a country. This is why even some of the most advanced countries, including the G7 members (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US and the European Union) and others, do not do too well on HDI. That's why countries like Switzerland rank high on HDI.

BUT DO WE REALLY HAVE A DEFINITION?

There is no all-agreed definition of a developed country. More than a strict definition, a developed country differs from a developing one in categorisation used by international institutions. Agencies such as the United Nations, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization or the World Economic Forum use their indicators to club developed and developing countries.

For example, the UN classifies countries into low, lower-middle, upper-middle and high-income countries. This classification is based on an individual country’s gross national income per capita. A country with GNI per capita of up to $1,085 is a low-income economy, up to $4,255 in the next bracket of lower middle-income, up to $13,205 as upper middle-income and above that high-income economy.

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INDIA's PRESENT & FUTURE

The World Bank currently categorises India as a lower-middle income economy — meant for countries with a gross national income per capita of between $1,086 and $4,255. High-income countries, like the US, have a per capita income of $13,205 or more.

India is expected to grow at over seven per cent in the current fiscal year ending in March 2023. This is the fastest among major economies. Estimates and experts say India’s economy could expand to become the world’s third-largest by 2050 after the US and China, although per capita income, currently around $2,100, may remain low compared to many countries.

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INDIA's ACHIEVEMENTS

• India's GDP rose from Rs 2.79 lakh crore in 1950-51 to an estimated Rs 147.36 lakh crore in 2021-22. India's economy, currently at $3.17 trillion, is expected to become the fifth largest in the world in 2022.
• India's per capita Net National Income (depreciation deducted from GDP + income from foreign sources) has jumped from Rs 12,493 in 1950-51 to Rs 91,481 in 2021-22.
• The government's total revenue receipts have increased from Rs 171.15 crore in 1947-48 to Rs 20,78,936 crore in 2021-22.
• India's foreign exchange reserves have risen from Rs 911 crore in 1950-51 to Rs 45,42,615 crore in 2022. Now, India has the fifth-largest forex reserves in the world.
• Foreign trade (merchandise and services) has risen from Rs 1,214 crore in 1950-51 to over $143 billion now.
• India's foodgrain production has increased from 50.8 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 316.06 million tonnes now.
• Literacy rate has also improved from 18.3 per cent in 1951 to 78 per cent. The female literacy rate has improved from 8.9 per cent to over 70 per cent.

SO, WHY STILL DEVELOPING?

There is a historical context. The British came, ruled and exploited India for about 200 years. India may not exactly have been a sone ki chidiya but it was a thriving economy. Some estimates claim that India contributed to about one-fourth of the global economy before the British colonised it. British economist Angus Maddison said India's share of the world economy declined from 24.4% in 1700 to 4.2% in 1950.

When the British left India in 1947, it was no longer the same country.

Part of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's popularity is because of his articulation -- some call it a rant -- that India would have been better off today, had the British not colonised it for so long. He explains in his book and interviews that what we consider British contributions, such as the Railways, to India were actually means of exploiting the Indian people.

ALSO READ | PM Modi’s ‘Panchprana' development strategy: 5 pledges for India’s future

Be that as it may, 75 years have passed since India's independence and the short answer as to why India is still a developing country is that the speed of development has not been as good as it should have been to leapfrog to the developed nations bracket.

And one of the reasons for that is, despite perhaps best of the intentions, successive governments have not been able to do enough. One of the hindrances is India's population, mostly poor. India is the second most populous country but that's also a demographic dividend that needs to be tapped. High levels of corruption and inadequate technological advancement have also slowed down India's growth story. Also, more than 70 per cent of the people are still engaged in the primary sector (agriculture). Vast potentials in the secondary (industry) and tertiary (services) also require to be realised.

In essence, becoming a developed country may not be as easy as it sounds. As a matter of fact, PM Modi had in 2017 as well talked about India becoming a developed country by 2022. Published By: Adarsh T R Published On: Aug 15, 2022 --- ENDS --- ALSO READ | India must be a developed nation in 25 years: PM Modi lays ground for next decade in I-Day speech

India could become the world’s 3rd largest economy in the next 5 years. Here's how

India is poised to play defining role in shaping the future of the global economy in 2024 and beyond. Image:  Getty Images/iStockphoto

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Suchi kedia.

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Stay up to date:.

• Amidst a challenging global scenario, India has emerged as a significant economic and geopolitical power.
• 2023 was a landmark year for India as it assumed the presidency of the G20, marked by some notable achievements.
• India is poised to play a defining role in shaping the future of the global economy in 2024 and beyond.

This article has been published in CNBC .

2024 begins at a critical and delicate juncture. While the global economy has managed to stave off recession, albeit narrowly, it has suffered significant volatility and unpredictability during the past year. Devastating conflicts have stoked geopolitical fractures, economic fragmentation and financial turbulence.

With new global challenges emerging, urgent progress is needed to address existing vulnerabilities, including fragile energy and food security, inclusive growth, and the intensifying climate emergency. Effective multilateral cooperation is key for the world to come to a common understanding to tackle these interlinked issues.

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Amidst a challenging global scenario, India has emerged as a significant economic and geopolitical power. Its actions in the coming year could lay the groundwork for the country to become the world’s third largest economy in the next five years and a developed nation by 2047, setting an example on inclusive, sustainable economic growth, digital development and climate action.

A landmark year

2023 marked a landmark year for India as it assumed presidency of the world’s highest profile global economic assembly, the G20, and showcased its economic prowess and diplomatic finesse to the world.

India’s emphasis on a rule-based international order, advocacy for collaboration to solve common issues, and commitment to upholding democratic values positions makes it a stabilizing force in an increasingly complex global geopolitical landscape. Importantly, India also helped herald a new dawn of multilateralism where developing countries take their rightful place in shaping the global narrative by mainstreaming the Global South's concerns in international discourse.

The notable achievements during India’s tenure – the inclusion of the African Union into the G20; the launch of critical multistakeholder partnerships such as the Global Biofuel Alliance and the Global Initiative on Digital Health; the progress on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the reform of multilateral development banks; and the scaling of digital public infrastructure – demonstrate its ability to build consensus to address global challenges collectively and effectively.

The World Economic Forum, through its centres and initiatives, actively supported India’s G20 agenda and contributed to key thematic areas including energy and health.

On the economic front, India has been a key growth engine for the world, contributing 16% to the global growth in 2023 . The country’s growth rate of 7.2% in fiscal 2022-2023 was the second-highest among the G20 countries and almost twice the average for emerging market economies that year.

India’s efforts to maintain stability and enact structural reforms have contributed to its economic resilience in the face of global challenges. Investments in upgrading infrastructure and connectivity, including projects like the Bharatmala highway programme, the Sagarmala project for port-led development and the Smart Cities Mission, are transforming the country's landscape and playing a pivotal role in the country’s economic advancement.

India began laying a solid foundation for a more digital economy over a decade ago with the launch of its national identification programme, Aadhaar, which uses biometric IDs to establish proof of residence. Today, with a burgeoning tech industry, the country has become a key centre for innovation and technology services, not only boosting economic growth but also positioning India as a key player in shaping the future of the digital economy.

In the face of escalating climate-related concerns, India also plays a key leadership role in the global fight against climate change. Through the launch of the Mission LiFE of Lifestyle for Environment, coupled with a concerted push for Green Hydrogen, India has demonstrated a firm commitment to a growth trajectory that balances economic advancement with ecological responsibility.

India has also launched the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, and proposed a global grid for renewables. A major announcement made by Prime Minister Modi at COP28 in Dubai was the introduction of the Green Credit Initiative as a substitute for carbon credits.

According to our Future of Jobs 2018 report, more than one-half of India’s workforce will need to be re-skilled by 2022 to meet the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

With the world’s largest youth population and more than half of the population of working age, skills development is critical for India to sustain inclusive growth and development.

In late 2018, the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with India's oil and skills development minister as well as the head of business consulting company Infosys, launched a Task Force for Closing the Skills Gap in India .

The task force brings together leaders from business, government, civil society and the education and training sectors to help future-proof India’s education and training systems. Find out more about our Closing the Skills Gap 2020 initiative.

A focus on inclusive growth

Moving forward, fulfilling India’s national and global ambitions will require strategic policymaking to tread the delicate balance between economic growth, social development and environmental sustainability. India’s demographics will be advantageous to its growth story only if coupled with broad labour market reforms and human development measures to skill one of the world’s largest workforces and address youth unemployment.

Continued broad-based policy initiatives and structural changes focused on inclusive growth, sustained revival in domestic consumption demand, and rapid adoption of new and emerging technologies to enhance the productivity will be critical. Additionally, India must continue to engage in multilateral forums to address global issues such as health crises, economic disparities and geopolitical tensions.

The world is now witnessing a nation on the rise, with a booming economy, and a commitment to inclusivity, sustainability, and international collaboration. India is poised to play defining role in shaping the future of the global economy in 2024 and beyond.

This article was published as part of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 discussions.

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The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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India as a ‘developed’ country: where we are, and the challenges ahead, explained

The 'developed country' goal is the first of the five vows that prime minister narendra modi exhorted indians to take during his address to the nation on independence day. what does being a developed country entail, where does india stand now, and what are the challenges on the road that it faces here onward.

In his Independence Day address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Indians to embrace the “Panch Pran” — five vows — by 2047 when the country celebrates 100 years of independence. The first vow, he said, is for India to become a developed country in the next 25 years. It was a “big resolution”, the PM said . What will it take?

What is a “developed” country?

Different global bodies and agencies classify countries differently. The ‘World Economic Situation and Prospects’ of the United Nations classifies countries into three broad categories: developed economies, economies in transition, and developing economies. The idea is “to reflect basic economic country conditions”, and the categories “are not strictly aligned with the regional classifications”. So, it isn’t as though all European countries are “developed”, and all Asian ones are “developing”.

To categorise countries by economic conditions, the United Nations uses the World Bank’s categorisation (chart 3, with selected countries), based on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (in current US dollars).

But the UN’s nomenclature of “developed” and “developing” is being used less and less, and is often contested. Former US President Donald Trump had criticised the categorisation of China as a “developing” country, which allowed it to enjoy some benefits in the World Trade Organization. If China is a “developing” country, then the US should also be “made” one, Trump had said.

But why is the United Nations classification contested?

It can be argued that the UN classification is not very accurate and, as such, has limited analytical value.  Only the top three mentioned in chart 3 alongside — the US, the UK and Norway — fall in the developed country category. There are 31 developed countries according to the UN in all. All the rest — except 17 “economies in transition” — are designated as “developing” countries, even though in terms of proportion, China’s per capita income is closer to Norway’s than Somalia’s. China’s per capita income is 26 times that of Somalia’s while Norway’s is just about seven times that of China’s.

Then there are countries — such as Ukraine , with a per capita GNI of $4,120 (a third of China’s) — that are designated as “economies in transition”.

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Where does India stand?

As chart 2 shows, India is currently far behind both the so-called developed countries, as well as some developing countries. Often, the discourse is on the absolute level of GDP (gross domestic product). On that metric, India is one of the biggest economies of the world — even though the US and China remain far ahead.

However, to be classified as a “developed” country, the average income of a country’s people matters more. And on per capita income, India is behind even Bangladesh. China’s per capita income is 5.5 times that of India, and the UK’s is almost 33 times.

The disparities in per capita income often show up in the overall quality of life in different countries. A way to map this is to look at the scores of India and other countries on the Human Development Index (HDI), a composite index where the final value is reached by looking at three factors: the health and longevity of citizens, the quality of education they receive, and their standard of life.

India has made a secular improvement on HDI metrics. For instance, the life expectancy at birth (one of the sub-metrics of HDI) in India has gone from around 40 years in 1947 to around 70 years now. India has also taken giant strides in education enrolment at all three levels — primary, secondary, and tertiary.

What is the distance left to cover?

When compared to the developed countries or China, India has a fair distance to cover. A 2018 diagnostic report on India by the World Bank said: “Even though India is the world’s third-largest economy in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, most Indians are still relatively poor compared to people in other middle income or rich countries. Ten per cent of Indians, at most, have consumption levels above the commonly used threshold of $10 (PPP) per day expenditures for the global middle class.”

Also, “Other metrics, such as the food share of consumption, suggest that even rich households in India would have to see a substantial expansion of their total consumption to reach levels of poor households in rich countries.”

How much can India achieve by 2047?

One way to make this assessment is to look at how long other countries took to get there. For instance, in per capita income terms, Norway was at India’s current level 56 years ago — in the year 1966.

Comparing India to China is more useful. China reached that mark in 2007. Theoretically then, if India were to grow as fast as China did between 2007 and 2022, then, broadly speaking, it will take India another 15 years to be where China is now. But then, China’s current per capita income was achieved by the developed countries several decades earlier — the UK in 1987, the US and Norway in 1979.

India’s current HDI score (0.64) is much lower than what any of the developed countries had even in 1980. China reached the 0.64 level in 2004, and took another 13 year to reach the 0.75 level — that, incidentally, is the level at which the UK was in 1980.

The World Bank’s 2018 report had made a mention of what India could achieve by 2047.

“By 2047 — the centenary of its independence — at least half its citizens could join the ranks of the global middle class. By most definitions this will mean that households have access to better education and health care, clean water, improved sanitation, reliable electricity, a safe environment, affordable housing, and enough discretionary income to spend on leisure pursuits,” it said.

But it also laid out a precondition for this to happen: “Fulfilling these aspirations requires income well above the extreme poverty line, as well as vastly improved public service delivery.”

To see this in perspective, note that at the last count, as of 2013, India had 218 million people living in extreme poverty — which made India home to the most number of poor people in the world.

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The World Bank In India

With a population of more than 1.4 billion, India is the world’s largest democracy. Over the past decade, the country’s integration into the global economy has been accompanied by economic growth. India has now emerged as a global player.

AT A GLANCE

India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world and is poised to continue on this path, with aspirations to reach high middle income status by 2047, the centenary of Indian independence. It is also committed to ensuring that its continued growth path is equipped to deal with the challenges of climate change, and in line with its goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.

The growth of the past two decades has also led to India making remarkable progress in reducing extreme poverty. Between 2011 and 2019, the country is estimated to have halved the share of the population living in extreme poverty - below $2.15 per person per day (2017 PPP) (World Bank Poverty and Inequality Portal and Macro Poverty Outlook, Spring 2023). In recent years, however, the pace of poverty reduction has slowed especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, but has since moderated in 2021-22.

Certain challenges persist. Inequality in consumption continues, with a Gini index of around 35 over the past two decades. Child malnutrition has remained high, with 35.5 percent of children under the age of 5 years being stunted, with the figure rising to 67 percent for children in the 6-59 months age group. Headline employment indicators have improved since 2020 but concerns remain about the quality of jobs created and the real growth in wages, as well as around the low participation of women in the laborforce.

India’s aspiration to achieve high income status by 2047 will need to be realized through a climate-resilient growth process that delivers broad-based gains to the bottom half of the population. Growth-oriented reforms will need to be accompanied by an expansion in good jobs that keeps pace with the number of labor market entrants. At the same time, gaps in economic participation will need to be addressed, including by bringing more women into the workforce.

The World Bank is partnering with the government in this effort by helping strengthen policies, institutions, and investments to create a better future for the country and its people through green, resilient, and inclusive development.

Economic Outlook

After real GDP contracted in FY20/21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, growth bounced back strongly in FY21/22, supported by accommodative monetary and fiscal policies and wide vaccine coverage. Consequently, in 2022, India emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, despite significant challenges in the global environment – including renewed disruptions of supply lines following the rise in geopolitical tensions, the synchronized tightening of global monetary policies, and inflationary pressures.

In FY22/23, India’s real GDP expanded at an estimated 6.9 percent. Growth was underpinned by robust domestic demand, strong investment activity bolstered by the government’s push for investment in infrastructure, and buoyant private consumption, particularly among higher income earners. The composition of domestic demand also changed, with government consumption being lower due to fiscal consolidation.

Since Q3 FY22/23, however, there have been signs of moderation, although the overall growth momentum remains robust. The persisting headwinds – rising borrowing costs, tightening financial conditions and ongoing inflationary pressures – are expected to weigh on India’s growth in FY23/24. Real GDP growth is likely to moderate to 6.3 percent in FY23/24 from the estimated 6.9 percent in FY22/23.

Both the general government fiscal deficit and public debt to GDP ratio increased sharply in FY20/21 and have been declining gradually since then, with the fiscal deficit falling from over 13 percent in FY20/21 to an estimated 9.4 percent in FY22/23. Public debt has fallen from over 87 percent of GDP to around 83 percent over the same period. The consolidation has largely been driven by an increase in revenues and a gradual withdrawal of pandemic-related stimulus measures. At the same time, the government has remained committed to increasing capital spending, particularly on infrastructure, to boost growth and competitiveness.

Last Updated: Sep 27, 2023

THE WORLD BANK GROUP AND INDIA

The World Bank Group’s (WBG) over seven decade-long partnership with India is strong and enduring. Since the first loan to Indian Railways in 1949, the WBG’s financing, analytical work, and advisory services have contributed to the country’s development. International Development Association – the WBG’s soft-lending arm created for developing countries like India - has supported activities that have had a considerable impact on universalizing primary education; empowering rural communities through a series of rural livelihoods projects; revolutionizing agriculture through support of the Green and White (milk) Revolutions; and helping to combat polio, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS.   In FY18, the relationship reached a major milestone when India became a low middle-income country and graduated from International Development Association financing.

COUNTRY PARTNERSHIP FRAMEWORK

The WBG’s present engagement with India is guided by its Country Partnership Framework for FY18-22 (CPF).  The CPF builds on the decades-long partnership and seeks to address the country’s development aspirations and priority needs identified in the Group’s  Systematic Country Diagnostic for India . It aims to work with India so that the country’s rapidly growing economy makes much more efficient use of resources; fosters inclusiveness by investing in human capital and generating more quality jobs; and develops strong public sector institutions that are capable of meeting the demands of a rising middle-class economy. The CPF’s approach combines a focus on ‘what’ the WBG will work on and ‘how’ it will engage India in the process.  What  will   the WBG work on?

• Promoting resource-efficient growth , including in the rural, urban, and energy sectors as well addressing disaster risk management and air pollution;
• Enhancing competitiveness and enabling job creation , including improving the business climate, access to finance, connectivity, logistics, skilling, and increasing female labor force participation;
• Investing in human capital  through early childhood development, education, health, social protection, and rural water supply and sanitation. 

How  will the WBG amplify the impact of its work in India?

• By leveraging the  private sector
• By harnessing India’s  federalism
• By strengthening  public institutions
• By supporting  Lighthouse India  to foster knowledge exchanges within the country and between India and the rest of the world. 

In all its activities, the WBG will seek to address  climate change, gender gaps,  and the  challenges and opportunities afforded by technology .  

WORLD BANK GROUP PROGRAM

The World Bank’s lending program consists of 98 lending operations. Of the $21.4 billion in commitments, $19.3 billion is from IBRD, $2.0 billion is from IDA – the Bank’s soft lending arm - and $0.1 billion is from other sources, primarily grant funding from the Global Environment Fund. 

Roughly a little more than one third of these operations and around 40% of commitments are either for central or multi-state operations, while the remainder consists of state-specific operations in 26 of India’s 28 states. 

The four largest portfolios are  Agriculture  (15 operations totaling $3.1 billion in commitments),  Energy , (11 projects totaling $4.0 billion in commitments), Health, Nutrition & Population  (11 projects totaling $2.8 billion) and Transport  and Water (11 projects each totaling $2.5 billion respectively).

In FY23, the Bank approved 15 operations amounting to $4.37 billion.  Of this, $ 4.32 billion is lending from IBRD and $0.05 billion from IDA (recommitted from cancelled IDA programs). Around 15-18 projects are expected to be delivered in FY24, with total commitments in the range of $3.5 – 4 billion.

For the IFC, India is the biggest client country, accounting for over 10 percent of its global portfolio with a committed portfolio of US$6.5 billion as of June 30, 2023. IFC has more than 250+ active projects in sectors including infrastructure, health, energy, manufacturing, housing, technology, and finance. Since its first engagement in 1958, IFC has invested more than US$27 billion (including mobilization) in over 500 companies in India. India is the sixth largest shareholder in IFC, owning a 4.01 percent stake.

IBRD and IFC work together in several areas, most notably in energy, transport, water and health. The World Bank partnership has been particularly strong in raising financing for renewable energy initiatives, especially in supporting the Government of Madhya Pradesh in setting up the largest solar park project that provides solar power with a total capacity of 2.25 gigawatts at a record low cost, reducing carbon emissions by 3.8 million metric tons per year and powering 60% of the Delhi metro. Similarly, IFC and IBRD collaborated under the Government of India’s flagship Clean Ganga program, ‘ Namami Gange ,’ helping revamp sewage treatment plants using hybrid annuity-based PPP projects, treating 218 million liters of water per day in three cities, and contributing to the steady rejuvenation of the sacred river for millions. IFC led the PPP mandate, while IBRD loan facilitated payment guarantees to boost private sector participation in the sector.

The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) does not have exposure in India. MIGA has been working closely with the Ministry of Finance to provide credit enhancement solutions at the state-level and state-owned enterprise (SOE) level. This will enable state governments and SOEs to utilize long-term commercial financing, which can complement concessional lending provided by other multilaterals and development finance institutions.

The WBG has a wide-ranging program of Advisory Services & Analytics. The program informs policy debate, provides analytical underpinnings and learnings for operations and strategy, facilitates the scale up of innovative solutions, and helps to improve state capability. As of October 2021, some 18 analytical studies and 15 advisory activities were ongoing. Key areas of focus include  poverty and macroeconomic analysis ,  financial sector reform ,  enhancing human capital including universal health coverage  and  gender ,  air quality management , as well as  state capability and governance . 

*FY23 means Financial Year from July 2022 - June 2023

WBG financing supported India’s achievement of numerous results over the past five years, highlights of which include:

Education : The World Bank’s approximately $2.7 billion support for education in India covers primary, secondary, and tertiary education, as well as skills development for its young population.  

The World Bank’s $250 million Skill India Mission Operation (SIMO) is backing Central and State government initiatives to skill young people—including the disadvantaged and vulnerable—to acquire the skills needed for a wide range of jobs that are in demand in the market. The project has trained almost 6 million young people, 34 percent of whom are women. Some 40 percent of the trainees were employed within six months of completing their course.

The World Bank also supports state government programs for reforms in primary and senior secondary education. School education projects in Andhra Pradesh , Chhattisgarh , Gujarat and Nagaland are helping strengthen foundational learning of the students, provide training and resources for the professional development of teachers, and use data-driven programs to  improve learning assessment systems for remedial education.

A new World Bank program - Multidisciplinary Education and Research Improvement in Technical Education Project   to be implemented in 14 States and Union Territories will support research and innovation in climate change and sustainable energy. The program is expected to benefit around 350,000 students. In Madhya Pradesh and Odisha , reforms in tertiary education have helped close to 2 million students from disadvantaged groups get access to quality higher education and skills, making them more employable.

Social Protection :

During the COVID-19 pandemic, World Bank support of $1.65 billion through two projects, Accelerating India’s COVID-19 Social Protection Response Program  and Creating a Coordinated and Responsive Indian Social Protection System  helped protect the poor and vulnerable through transfers in cash and kind. About 320 million vulnerable people received cash transfers into their bank accounts.  About 800 million people received additional food rations.

In Jharkhand , a market-driven skills training and secondary education program has helped set up about 13,000 strong community level clubs that provide skills and education to over one million adolescent girls and young women.

In West Bengal , an ongoing program is providing social protection services to poor and vulnerable groups, with a focus on strengthening institutions for delivering care to elderly persons and those with disabilities. The program is also working to increase female labor force participation. Digital transfers through the Jai Bangla Platform reached 3.1 million beneficiaries in the first half of 2023.  

The World Bank’s current health portfolio in India of around $2.8 billion includes both national and state-level projects:

A $1 billion COVID-19 Emergency Response Project helped the government strengthen health facilities in states, procure essential medical supplies – such as testing-equipment and kits, personal protective equipment, gloves, masks, and oxygen cylinders. It also helped insure 2.2 million frontline health workers. In addition, it helped expand health facilities dedicated to COVID-19, raising their number from 163 in March 2020 to more than 23,000 in June 2022.  Over 926 million COVID-19 tests were supported and 3,362 testing laboratories created.

An additional $1 billion in World Bank support is helping the government strengthen health service delivery . This includes all aspects of pandemic preparedness and response , improving real-time disease surveillance, better One Health coordination and enhancing  capacity for biosecurity.

World Bank is also supporting the National Tuberculosis (TB) Elimination Program to improve success rates of treatment, including of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). It is also scaling up direct transfer of cash benefits into the bank accounts of TB patients.

In Andhra Pradesh , Meghalaya , Mizoram , Nagaland , Tamil Nadu , and Uttarakhand ongoing programs focus on improving the quality of health care services, and strengthening the management of non-communicable diseases. In Uttarakhand, clusters of public health facilities, using a public private partnership (PPP) model, now have specialists available regularly, resulting in improved service delivery.  Digital health strategies for improved service delivery are being implemented in Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland and Tamil Nadu.

Rural Water Supply and Sanitation : Since 2000, World Bank projects have contributed over $2.8 billion in financing for rural water supply and sanitation. About 30 million people from over 30,000 villages—with populations ranging from 150 to 15,000—have gain better access to drinking water. About 167 million rural people have benefitted from improved sanitation. Many of the projects have helped promote women’s participation in discussions around changing age-old sanitation behaviors. Local institutions have been strengthened to improve operations and maintenance of water and sanitation infrastructure and upgrade service delivery.

Agriculture

World Bank-financed projects are promoting climate resilient agriculture in Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra Odisha and Tamil Nadu. The focus is on introducing climate smart technologies, using water more efficiently, adopting crop diversification for better soil health and using climate resilient seeds.  World Bank is also focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and using clean energy in post-harvest activities. Since 2016, World Bank-financed projects have brought around 1.7 million hectares of land under climate resilient agriculture.  Around 2 million farmers are adopting improved agriculture technologies.

Empowering Rural Women

Since 2003, World Bank has provided $2.2 billion in support of the Women’s Self-Help Group (SHG) movement in India through several state and national projects. Around 32 million rural women have been mobilized into 2.9 million SHGs.   Rural women have been trained and now earn their own livelihood as Pashu Sakhis (looking after animals), Bank Sakhis (helping rural people operate Bank accounts), or operating canteens at government hospitals and offices, and as masons building toilets.  These empowered women have also been encouraged to become entrepreneurs, running small businesses like poultry and goat farms, grocery shops, and cottage industries, and provided access to markets.   These entrepreneurial initiatives have helped the SHGs access commercial finance of over $14.5 billion.  These projects were also the genesis of the Government of India’s National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), which is world’s largest platform for women’s social and economic empowerment.  As of April 2023, the NRLM supports over 91 million women through 8.4 million SHGs.

households are now receiving 24/7 water supply in three cities in the Indian state of Karnataka

India: Commitments by Fiscal Year (in millions of dollars)*

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• Vajiram --> (current)
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to make India a developed country in the next quarter-century on the eve of 75 th year of Indian independence.
• PM Modi has urged citizens to focus on five resolutions ('Panchpran') to make India a developed nation in the next 25 years i.e. by 2047 when the country celebrates 100 years of independence.

About Panchpran', or five promises

• To move forward with bigger resolves and the resolve of a developed India
• To erase all traces of servitude(enslavement)
• To be proud of India’s legacy
• To focus on India’s unity, which is its strength
• To fulfill the duties of citizens with honesty

“Developed” country classification

• The ‘ World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) ’ classifies all countries into three broad categories as developed economies, economies in transition, and developing economies.
• To categorise countries by economic conditions, the United Nations uses the World Bank’s categorisation based on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (in current US dollars).

• There are 31 developed countries according to the UN in all and categorisation of China as a “ developing ” country is disputed.
• All the rest, except 17 “economies in transition” are designated as “developing” countries.
• China’s per capita income is closer to Norway’s than Somalia’s. China’s per capita income is 26 times that of Somalia’s while Norway’s is just about seven times that of China’s.
• Countries such as Ukraine , with a per capita GNI of $4,120 ( a third of China’s ) are designated as “ economies in transition ”.

India’s standing

• Absolute level of GDP : On this metric, India is one of the biggest economies of the world, even though the US and China remain far ahead .
• India is behind even Bangladesh. China’s per capita income is 5.5 times that of India, and the UK’s is almost 33 times.
• It was also one seventh of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) countries per capita income of 48,482.1 dollars. OECD is a group of developed economies.
• While India’s per capita income grew at double the rate of OECD nations in the last 25 years , it would need to grow at 12.4 percent consistently to catch up to OECD countries within the next 25 years.
• The life expectancy at birth in India has gone from around 40 years in 1947 to around 70 years now.
• China reached the 0.64 level in 2004, and took another 13 year to reach the 0.75 level which was, incidentally the level at which the UK was in 1980.
• Gender mainstreaming : Female Labour Force Participation Ratio has dropped sharply from 32 per cent in 2005 to just 19.2 per cent in 2021, although the latest data is a small recovery from 18.6 per cent, the lowest in 32 years in the first pandemic year of 2020.

Distance left to cover

• As per 2018 diagnostic report on India by the World Bank, though India is the world’s third-largest economy in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms , but only ten per cent of Indians, at most, have consumption levels above the commonly used threshold of $10 (PPP) per day expenditures for the global middle class.
• Other metrics, such as the food share of consumption , suggest that even rich households in India need a substantial expansion of their total consumption to reach levels of poor households in rich countries.

How much can India achieve by 2047?

• For instance, in per capita income terms, Norway was at India’s current level 56 years ago, in the year 1966.
• Also, China’s current per capita income was achieved by the developed countries several decades earlier like the UK in 1987, the US and Norway in 1979.
• Pre-conditions : The World Bank laid out certain preconditions for this to happen like income well above the extreme poverty line and vastly improved public service delivery.

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Is India still a developing country?

As the world's largest democracy prepares to go to the polls, we've invited five people from India , the US and the UK who have expertise on economics, women's rights, youth movements, disability rights and urban development to answer the question: "Do you perceive India to be a developing country?"

Jayati Ghosh , professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

The development project in India is nowhere near complete – indeed it has barely begun. It is still a poor country: per capita income iremains below $2,000 (£1,206) at actual exchange rates, and there is still widespread destitution. Development is supposed to involve job creation, with more workers in formal employment in large units, but that has not happened. Manufacturing still counts for less than one-fifth of both output and employment. More than half of all workers languish in low productivity agriculture, while another quarter or so are in low grade services. About 95% of all workers are in informal employment, and roughly half are self-employed. What's more, the recognised and paid participation of women in working life has actually been declining in a period of rapid income growth.

This basic failure helps to explain several other failures of the development project so far: the persistence of widespread hunger and very poor nutrition indicators; the inadequate provision of basic needs like housing, electricity and other essential infrastructure; the poor state of health facilities for most people; and the slow expansion of education. Growing inequalities do mean that a rising middle class is emerging, but this should not blind us to the lack of fulfilment of basic social and economic rights for the bulk of people.

Raka Choudhury , urban planner and writer for the Wall Street Journal

India is developing at a breakneck pace. Literally. Over the past decade, India has added local roads and highways that prioritise the speed and efficiency of vehicles with no consideration for human safety. The World Health Organisation reports that the death rate in road crashes in India has been consistently rising. Approximately 134,000 people died in traffic crashes in 2010, about half of whom were pedestrians, bicyclists, and riders of two- and three-wheelers; as many as four times this number were injured.

While the safety standards of automobiles are an issue, a lack of consideration for all road users by traffic engineers and planners is largely to blame. Cars are a tiny fraction of all road users in India, but we continue to design roads without sidewalks and crosswalks in dense urban areas, and avoid providing traffic signals altogether to promote "free-flow" of cars. New development patterns such as suburban, gated residential communities continue to feed this reliance on cars. And in cities like Kolkata, cyclists are now banned from most city streets during business hours.

Until India begins to value the lives and needs of all its road users, and move away from its current middle-class aspiration of car ownership, in my opinion, India's growth is backwards and inequitable.

Akhil Paul, director of Sense International India

The question of whether or not India is a developed or developing country is not so simple that it can be measured by the yardstick of the number of billionaires or a mission to the moon. To understand the real India, we need to look at many other indicators, such as health and education too. I think the level of development in a country is directly proportionate to the way we choose to treat our children, elderly and the disabled.

As far as India is concerned, we might score very highly in terms of growth of physical infrastructure, but most of the public places are inaccessible to people with disabilities. As per the 2011 census, India has about 2.7 million people with disabilities, and only a handful of those enjoy education and/or employment. We are spending less than 4% of our GDP on important areas of education and health. Almost 12% of our children (between 5 and 15 years) are identified as child labour, and we have about 2.4 million people living with HIV/Aids.

Almost 25% of my fellow Indians are poor – in the same India where millions use smartphones. Within India, there are many different countries. One is high-flying and tech-savvy, [with people] driving flashy cars in and out of top-starred hotels and clubs. Another is white-collared middle class. And another is still struggling to survive. There is no doubt that in some areas we are a developed country and, as far as people with disability are concerned, we have created facilities and a support system. But in many areas we still have long way to go. Now I leave it to you to decide whether you perceive India as developing or not!

Shirin Rai , professor of politics and international studies at Warwick University

John Stuart Mill wrote in The History of [British] India: "The condition of women is one of the most remarkable circumstances in the manner of nations. Among rude people the women are generally degraded, among civilised people they are exalted." If the stories of rape and torture of women in India that have hit the headlines recently are anything to go by, then can we consider India to be a developing (civilised?) country?

However, if we reflect upon what the Mill quote invites – the "exaltation of women" as a discourse legitimising the colonial occupation of India – then we might also question the whole notion of "developing country". While no one can deny the problems that women face in India – from the skewed sex ratio in favour of males to violence in their everyday lives – it is also important to note that this violence is experienced by women across the world.

The figures from the World Health Organisation show that the differences between the developed world and the developing are less than what we would expect, especially where we take war and the breakdown of public order into account. So, why elide these two politicised discourses – development and women's status? Why not instead focus on the struggles being waged every day in India against the banality of violence and for dignified and productive lives?

Mansha Khemka, chair of the International Youth Council , India chapter

Even after 66 years of independence, India is still labelled as a developing country. I think as a nation, we have miles to go. The nation is undergoing this unearthing surge of political, cultural and social change. In the past, issues around which political parties used to build their campaigns essentially surrounded the promise of basic necessities.

Now, these have evolved to focus on the "safety of women" and "corruption", among other [themes]. Corruption has mired growth to a great extent, and past and present governments have so far been unsuccessful in finding a permanent solution. The young Indian faces challenges stretching from a poorly administered education system to the lowest average wage rates in the world.

The youth of India today lives in a society defined by multiple languages, religions, ethnicities and political thought, among other things. Yet they define their own generation, which is starkly different from their fathers and grandfathers. This puts them in a unique position to take their country towards positive growth and development.

In the past few years, the country has seen anti-corruption campaigners battle parliament for the formation of better laws, huge mass protests and angst over the state's failure to prevent the increase in rape incidents, and historical changes in political power in the capital. The forthcoming elections hold much promise in terms of prime ministerial candidates strategising to lure young voters to the polling booths, promises to change the nation, and constant conjecture over the ideological revolution in the Indian political diaspora.

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India as a Developed Nation – Explained, pointwise

PYQ Discussion 2024 Batch-1, An opportunity to revise 2011-2023 PYQ’s, Batch Starts 24th April 2024 Click Here   for more information

• 1 Introduction
• 2 What is a developed nation?
• 3 Why is India classified as a developing country?
• 4 Why is India still a developing nation?
• 5 What have been India’s achievements since Independence?
• 6 How much gap is to be covered to make India a Developed Country by 2047?
• 7 What steps are required to make India a Developed Country?
• 8 Conclusion

Introduction

In his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2022, the Prime Minister of India said, “ We must work towards turning India into a developed nation by 2047. ” The PM spoke about India’s achievements and challenges while rolling out the 25-year goal to make India a developed nation by 100th year of Independence . India is still classified as a developing country and the gap to be plugged to become a developed country is still very wide. Hence, achieving this target will not be easy. Nevertheless, this is an ambitious and worthy target. And to achieve this ambition, very dedicated and focused efforts would be required from all t he stakeholders, the Government and citizens, the public institutions as well as the private sector, from the policymaking to its flawless execution.

What is a developed nation?

Although, India is world’s sixth largest economy with a GDP of ~US$ 3 trillion, it is classified as a developing nation . 

There is no all-agreed definition of a developed country . More than a strict definition, a developed country differs from a developing one in categorisation used by international institutions e.g.,  the United Nations uses the World Bank’s categorisation based on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (in current US dollars). It classifies countries into low (Income < US$ 1,086), lower-middle (Income between US$ 1,086-4,255), upper-middle (Income between US$ 4,256-13,205) and high-income countries (Income > US$ 13,205). The low and middle-income countries are referred to as developing countries , and the high-income economies as developed nations.

Source: Indian Express

* (Atlas Method: The World Bank’s official estimates of the size of economies are based on GNI converted to current U.S. dollars using the World Bank Atlas method. The Atlas method smoothes exchange rate fluctuations by using a three year moving average , price-adjusted conversion factor ) .

Apart from the income criterion, there are other broad parameters based on which distinction is made. A developed nation is industrialized , has a high quality of life , a developed economy and advanced technological infrastructure relative to less industrialized nations. Developed countries perform well on key economic criteria:

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) : Countries with a high GDP and per capita income (the amount of money earned per person) are considered developed.

Level of industrialisation : Countries in which the tertiary and quaternary sectors of industry dominate are described as developed. Developed countries generally have more advanced post-industrial economies, meaning the service sector provides more wealth than the industrial sector .

The Tertiary Sector includes companies that provide services such as financial, retail, legal, business processes etc. Quaternary sectors include knowledge-based activities such as information technology, research, and development, as well as consulting services and education. 

Other criteria are the scale of infrastructure, the general standard of living, and the Human Development Index (HDI) .

Why is India classified as a developing country?

First , the World Bank currently categorizes India as a lower-middle income economy . On per capita income, India is behind even Bangladesh . China’s per capita income is 5.5 times that of India, and the UK’s is almost 33 times.

Second , there has been substantial progress in infrastructure development in the last 75 years but still millions in villages even now go hungry and are devoid of schools, hospitals, roads and other such basic facilities. 

Third , the level of infrastructure in urban areas is poor. Most Indian cities have vast slum areas indicative of poverty. There is inadequate piped clean drinking water system, sewerage network or waste treatment facilities. Urban transport infrastructure is unable to cope up with rising vehicles. Urban flooding has become a common phenomena.

Fourth , India performs poorly with respect to social indicators in comparison to developed nations e.g., the infant mortality rate (the number of infant deaths per 1,000 live births) has reduced from 76 in 1996 to 27 in 2020, but it was still over four times the OECD average of 6. Less than 33% of India’s population had received tertiary education, compared to 77% in the OECD economies. India’s female labor force participation declined in the last 25 years, whereas it increased in OECD countries. 

India’s Human Development Index Score at present is 0.645 (UNDP 2020 Report) and is ranked at 131. Most developed nations have HDI Score > 0.85 (top 40 countries).

India’s per capita energy consumption is much below developed countries.

Source: Business Standard

Why is India still a developing nation?

First , the British colonial rule drained Indian economy for almost 200 years. According to some estimates, India’s share in the world economy declined from 24.4% in 1700 to 4.2% in 1950. India at Independence, inherited a very weak economy with poor industrial base, under-developed agriculture and poor quality of human resource (18% literacy).

Second , the speed of development has not been as good as it should have been to leapfrog into the developed nations bracket. The reasons include: (a) India has the second largest population in the world that is mostly poor . This places a huge financial burden on the government finances; (b) High levels of corruption and inadequate technological advancement have also slowed down India’s growth story; (c) Almost ~ 50% of the people are still engaged in the primary sector (agriculture etc.) whose income generation potential is low. Vast potentials in the secondary (industry) and tertiary (services) also are yet to be realized. Economists argue that failure to undertake reforms in agriculture (like China did in 1970s-80s) prevented structural transformation of Indian economy (higher proportion of tertiary and secondary sector in employment); (d) The pace of economic growth for the most part since Independence hovered around 3%. This pace of economic growth was too slow to pull large proportion of population out of poverty. 

What have been India’s achievements since Independence?

Source: Mint

How much gap is to be covered to make India a Developed Country by 2047?

To catch up with the OECD economies, India will need to increase its infrastructure considerably e.g., India had only 30 colleges per 100,000 people in 2019-20, and AISHE data shows that enrolments per college declined compared to 2015-16. So to reach OECD level of 77% tertiary education level is huge task.

India’s life expectancy at birth would have to improve faster than it did in the last 25 years to reach OECD levels. At the current pace, it would fall short of OECD economies—India added nine years to life expectancy for both males and females between 1995 and 2020.

Similarly, India’s IMR is expected to be above OECD Level, though the gap would have been plugged to a large extent by 2047.

Hence, the biggest challenge in achieving the target by 2047 is that the gap with repect to the developed countries is too big.

What steps are required to make India a Developed Country?

First , India must undertake reforms for structural transformation of the economy. There is need to create employment opportunities in the secondary (industrial) and tertiary (service) sectors in order to raise income levels and reduce the burden of population on agriculture. The transformation is necessary to reap the demographic dividend.

Second , the delivery standard of Government services , especially in health and education need radical improvement. The Government must increase public expenditure on health and education and bring it at par with the developed economies (as % of the GDP).

Third , there is a need for a strong action to curb corruption . This would ensure that Government benefits reach the intended beneficiaries and leakages are minimized. Similarly a check on tax evasion will ensure an increase in Government’s tax revenues, which will improve room for spending on welfare sector.

Fourth , the urban local governance must be transformed. The urban planning process needs an overhaul in order to ensure sustainable and inclusive urbanization .

Fifth , to make India a developed nation, the deep rooted inequalities in Indian society must be eliminated , especially gender inequalities. It is an ongoing transformation. In lots of aspects, the situation has improved considerably since Independence e.g., in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, 40% of India’s medallists were women. Yet, there is need to eliminate injustices on the basis of gender, caste, religion, region etc. in order to create a just and inclusive society .

In essence, making India a developed nation by 2047 is a big challenge. While policies and their effective implementation will be the primary levers to achieve this goal, ensuring unity, and thus, a unified purpose, should be the first step towards ‘Mission 2047’. Many commentators had written India off in 1947; yet India not only survived, but thrived in many dimensions. The same spirit is needed now to realize India’s full potential and make it a developed country.

Syllabus : GS III, Indian Economy and issues related to growth and development.

Source : Indian Express , Economic Times , Business Standard , Mint

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Is India Still A Developing Country? Research Paper

Introduction, failures of the project, enhancing conditions, rapid development, reference list.

The development in India started more than sixty years ago, as it gained its independence in 1947. The country was in a really poor condition, but today the improvement can be observed. Of course, the situation has not changed yet, as the population diversity is glaringly obvious. Still, the plans for the future are made and put into effect, so the fact that India is working to become industrialized cannot be denied.

The question of India being a developing country aroused because the people who are investigating different fields connected with this issue (such as economics, urban development, etc.) are not still able to come to the common conclusion. Some of them mention that the process of development in India is rapid, and it covers numerous spheres. Thus, they underline that the rush in cities tends to resemble European and American ones. Still, they mention that the traffic is rather high, which causes lots of accidents. Others pay more attention to health and education but also cannot make a distinct conclusion. Akhil Paul believes that physical infrastructure in India is likely to reach its top very soon, as the country is rather concerned about it.

Unfortunately, he also claims that the majority of public places are not accessible for disabled people, which extends the discrepancy among the population. The representative of the International Youth Council thinks that India has to implement a range of changes as a nation before it passes over the label of the developing country. However, the steps made to cope with corruption and care for the women’s safety cannot be denied ( Is India still a developing country? 2014). Such discrepancy prevents firm conclusions regarding the issue and makes this topic arguable.

Of course, the improvements planned by the government require a lot of time for implementation, but the ambiguousness of the current situation in India makes many people question its status. On the one hand, they think that continuous development will not come to an end soon. Moreover, it just starts working. On the other hand, they underline India’s achievements and plans for future changes. Thus, we can say that India has some drawbacks that are to be improved, but it is working hard on its way to development. It is not going to stop before reaching this goal because the greatest problems such as imparity among the population and corruption, etc. are taken into consideration and solving.

There are several reasons to question the claim that India is developing. Jayati Ghosh, professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, says that the process of development in India has just started, and it will not be completed soon.

The first objection to India’s development is the fact that it is a poor country. Jayati Ghosh, claims that it faces “widespread hunger and very poor nutrition indicators” ( Is India still a developing country? 2014, para. 7). He points out that many people lack basic needs. They do not have decent places to live. Many do not have electricity and other conveniences.

The second reason is that due to the problems with employment, the project of development does not meet the expectations and entails a range of other failures. When people are talking about development, they often relate it to the creation of new jobs, which is more likely to improve the income and population of the country. However, things differ in India. Agriculture laborers occupy almost 60% of the workers from rural areas, and more than half of them are self-employed. Thus, it is not surprising that they are poor and have poor living conditions (Shankar, Gaiha & Jha 2011).

The third reason is the poor state of health. Raka Choudhury underlines that because of the rise of urbanization, “134,000 people died in traffic crashes in 2010…; as many as four times this number were injured” ( Is India still a developing country? 2014, para. 4). These people need sufficient care, but only a few of them actually gain it. Moreover, India “accounts for about 60 percent of the world population without toilets, with human excrement that goes into a field polluting groundwater, crops and waterways” (Khuroo & Khuroo 2015, p. 44). Such pollution causes severe diseases and even leads to death.

Thus, the development in India can hardly be observed due to the numerous drawbacks.

Even though many people believe that the development project maintained by India does not meet the expectations, the situation is not so bad. According to the Citi Investment Research and Analysis , India is likely to become the “third-largest economy” till 2020 (Elliott 2009). The structure of economic growth alters to meet the needs of a current situation. Due to it, people also gain the opportunity to get better educated and trained. The anti-inflationary policy was adopted to cope with the issue. The country is said to invest a huge amount of money in its infrastructure and to benefit by dint of international trade.

Familiar ideas also have the Asian Development Bank. It is believed that India’s growth rate will soon exceed China’s. The Chief Economist claims that “the government’s pro-investment attitude, improvements in the fiscal and current account deficits, and some forward movement on resolving structural bottlenecks have helped improve the business climate and make India attractive again to both domestic and foreign investors” (Shankar 2015). The gross domestic product is thought to increase by more than 8%, which will surely benefit the country. Of course, the government should not be satisfied with what has already been achieved. Urbanization is to move forward for the industries to gain profit for India.

During the last several years, new roads and highways were made. Needless to say that they show the progress the country is managing. The roads do not just improve the visual state. Their primary goal is to reduce the number of accidents. As the country is developing, the infrastructure also alters. Many people become occupied in business, and they need to work more and to conduct numerous actions every day. To do everything in time, they move faster than usual, which increases the pressure of traffic. Kamal Nath, the Road Transport and Highways Minister, outlined “a 12,500-mile (20,000 km) highway-construction program that will require India to build 121/2 miles (20 km) of new roads a day — and that is only a part of a gobsmacking infrastructure program that will include more power generation, more air- and seaports, more irrigation projects” (Elliot 2009). He also pointed out that there will be a great improvement in health and education throughout the whole country. Moreover, the government is interested in enhancing living standards for poor people. It is considered that positive changes of this kind were lastly seen in China, and now India is following its steps.

Thus, the issues that are still familiar to the population of India will be solved soon. The government is determined to achieve the mentioned goals and has already planned the activities.

The fact that the severe drawbacks accounted by India are not solving and reject the process of development can be refuted.

The country is said to be poor, but it faces economic growth. The image of India has greatly improved from the perspective of global marketing. Today it gains a lot of investments from abroad. It is also reducing corruption within the country. People who hid their income abroad illegally are going to face the punishment according to the law. New businesses are encouraged and supplied with the loans by Mudra Bank ( India on the fast track of development 2015). The problems with undernutrition are going to be solved with the help of farmers. They will be provided with the needed power by dint of the new program ( India on the fast track of development 2015). Thus, the farmers will be able to supply the population with food. Of course, the government is not able to cope with rains and hailstorms, but it is ready to support them and assist.

The fact that India has problems with employment is also doubtful. With the help of the loans provided by Mudra Bank, new companies will create more vacancies and supply the citizens with official job positions and regular income. A number of programs aimed at the creation of jobs for youth are managed, for example, Make in India and Skill India ( India on the fast track of development 2015). The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is undertaken to enhance “the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work, at the minimum wage, on-demand, within 15 days of asking for employment” (Shankar, Gaiha & Jha 2011, p. 70).

Heals issues faced by the population of India also are dealt with. The Prime Minister states that soon “every family should have 24-hour electricity, clean drinking water, toilets, roads, and internet connectivity so that the quality of life improves in villages” ( India on the fast track of development 2015, para. 6). Hygienic conditions will also be enhanced. Clean India and Namami Gange program targets the creation of toilets and keeping the rivers clean. Such programs will not only enhance the living conditions by reducing the number of incidents but also reduce pollution. Thus, they will cause the improvement of health conditions.

Taking everything mentioned into consideration, it can be concluded that the development in India is not yet coming to an end, but lots have already been done. By dint of economic growth, the country is able to afford business encouragement. Thus, new working places occur, and more individuals gain official jobs, which affects their income in a positive way. They can have better education and healthcare. Sanitation issues are being solved, as they often cause serious health problems. The government targets making the country not only clean but also save, so the road infrastructure is being improved. India gains investments that assist it in becoming better and improving the conditions for the general public. India is likely to improve its condition greatly by 2020, and soon it will become a developed country.

Elliott, M. 2009, ‘The India model’, Time International , vol. 174, no. 20, pp. 64-70.

India on fast track of development 2015 . Web.

Is India still a developing country? 2014. Web.

Khuroo, M. & Khuroo, M. 2015, ‘Sanitation and sewage disposal in India’, JK- Practitioner , vol. 20, no. 1-2, pp. 43-46.

Shankar, B. 2015, India to grow faster than China in 2015-16 . Web.

Shankar, S., Gaiha, R. & Jha, K. 2011, ‘Information, access and targeting: the national rural employment guarantee scheme in India’, Oxford Development Studies , vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 69-95.

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IvyPanda. (2020, April 2). Is India Still A Developing Country? https://ivypanda.com/essays/is-india-still-a-developing-country/

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1. IvyPanda . "Is India Still A Developing Country?" April 2, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/is-india-still-a-developing-country/.

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IvyPanda . "Is India Still A Developing Country?" April 2, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/is-india-still-a-developing-country/.

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5) Present an analysis of why India still defends its “developing country” status at the WTO? Explain this dichotomy in India’s development status.(250 words)

Topic :  Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.

Why this question: The article highlights that India might face challenges in the future to its status as a developing country in the multilateral forum of World Trade Organization (WTO). Key demand of the question: Explain that India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It has made giant strides in recent times in various fields. However, India prefers to be labeled as a developing country. Directive: Explain – Clarify the topic by giving a detailed account as to how and why it occurred, or what is the particular context. You must be defining key terms where ever appropriate, and substantiate with relevant associated facts . Structure of the answer: Introduction:  In brief explain how and why countries are labeled developing or developed by the WTO. Body: Explain why India prefers ‘developing country status’? – countries self-designate themselves as ‘developing country’ to take advantage of Provisions like Article XVIII of GATT and other special and differential treatment (S&DT) provisions in the WTO agreements. Discuss the recent developments. Highlight the Principles proposed by USA on what does not constitute developing country. Conclusion: Conclude with way forward.

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Why India still defends its “developing country” status at the WTO? Explain this dichotomy in India’s development status. (15 Marks)

Mentors Comments:

• https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/still-a-developing-country/article29834940.ece
• The article highlights that India might face challenges in the future to its status as a developing country in the multilateral forum of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
• Explain that India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. It has made giant strides in recent times in various fields. However, India prefers to be labelled as a developing country.
• In a brief introduction, explain how and why countries are labelled developing or developed by the WTO.
• In the main body, explain why India prefers ‘developing country status’? – countries self-designate themselves as ‘developing country’ to take advantage of
• Provisions like Article XVIII of GATT and other special and differential treatment (S&DT) provisions in the WTO agreements.
• Discuss the recent developments.
• Highlight the Principles proposed by the USA on what does not constitute a developing country.
• Conclude with the way forward.

A group of 45 nations including India and China has insisted that countries must be allowed to make their own assessments regarding their developing country status. South Korea has said that it will no longer seek special treatment reserved for developing countries by the World Trade Organization in future negotiations given its enhanced global economic status.

There are no WTO definitions of “developed” and “developing” countries. Members announce for themselves whether they are “developed” or “developing” countries. However, other members can challenge the decision of a member to make use of provisions available to developing countries.

While on the one hand, the official narrative in India is that of a country making rapid developmental strides since 2014, on the other, when it comes to developmental status at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), India is trying hard to prove that it is a poor country.

Developing country status:

• The “developing country” status allows a member of the WTO to seek temporary exception from the commitments under various multilateral trade agreements ratified by the organisation.
• Countries self-designate themselves as ‘developing country’ to take advantage of provisions like Article XVIII of GATT.
• It was introduced during the initial days of the WTO as a mechanism to offer some respite to poor countries while they try to adjust to a new global trade order marked by lower barriers to trade.
• Developing country status ensures special and differential treatment (S&DT) or provisions which allow them more time to implement agreements and commitments,
• It includes measures to increase trading opportunities, safeguard their trade interests, and support to build capacity to handle disputes and implement technical standards.
• These provisions are aimed at ensuring longer transitional periods to comply with WTO obligations and affording technical assistance to countries, among other things.
• Countries such as India and China, while seeking exception from various WTO agreements, have argued that their economic backwardness should be considered when it comes to the timeline of implementation of these agreements.
• The issue of farm subsidies, for instance, is one over which rich and poor countries have had major disagreements.
• The WTO, however, does not formally classify any of its members as a developing country.
• Individual countries are allowed to unilaterally classify themselves as developing economies.
• So, as many as two-thirds of the 164 members of the WTO have classified themselves as developing countries.

India still defends its “developing country” status at the WTO:

• India is a member of the G20 and its share in world exports is around 1.7% as of early 2019. So, as per these criteria, India will not qualify as a developing country.
• While graduating to a ‘developed country’ status would have been a matter of joy, the ground reality is very different. India rightly countered the U.S.’s argument.
• In a paper submitted to the WTO, it gave several numbers to show that it is still a poor country and thus requires S&DT provisions.
• For example, the paper showed that India’s GDP per capita is very low; India has 364 million people living in multidimensional poverty; the domestic subsidies provided to per farmer is a meagre $227; and India has a very low research and development capacity.

Demands by developed countries:

• For some time now, developed countries, mainly the US, have been asking the WTO to end the benefits being given to developing countries.
• Nearly two-thirds of the members of the World Trade Organization(WTO) have been able to avail themselves of special treatment and to take on weaker commitments under the WTO framework by designating themselves as developing countries.

Any unilateral action by the U.S. would be a violation of international law and yet another onslaught on trade multilateralism. At the same time, the Indian political leadership also needs to refrain from being on a publicity overdrive about India’s development. At times, its own rhetoric can come back to bite India.

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Please upload all the answers separately in different documents The answer is decent in terms of the depth of the answer. You have covered almost all the necessary inputs in the answer. The explanation is o the point and the language is decent. To make your presentation better and content more rich, you should underline important points in the answer. Also, try to curtail the length of the statements in your intro. Write small statements. Very good way forwards.

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Good intro. Before discussing the pros of India being a developing country, discuss the provisions of WTO and its criteria of assigning a nation the tag of developed and developing nations. Then in order to get a better structure, discuss the pros for the nation of having a developing status tag. That will give your answer a better platform to launch the main body of the answer. The 2nd part of the main body is well discussed and the use of flowchart is decent. Read the model answer to understand the structure of the answer and get more talking points. Decent concluding statement.

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Mint Explainer: Can India become a ‘developed’ country by 2047?

India will need gen-next reforms and an iron will. it’s a mountain to climb, but china has shown it’s possible.

Can India become a developed country by 2047, or is it a tall order? Has Prime Minister Narendra Modi set an unrealistic target for the nation? For India to become “developed" in the next 25 years, the Indian economy would need to grow at breakneck speed. And for that, it needs gen-next reforms and must take giant strides on human-development indicators. China has shown it’s not impossible. India is a study in contrasts. It shows characteristics of a developed country in some ways but lags on most socio-economic indicators.

Why is India a developing nation?

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Countries are usually considered “developing" if they are still relatively poor and lag on basic development parameters. India has made rapid strides over the decades, particularly after the watershed 1991 reforms, but still has a long way to go on basic human development and socio-economic indicators.

India has still not completely eradicated hunger, poverty, illiteracy and unemployment. India’s basic infrastructure is getting overhauled⁠—from power to roads to railways to aviation to shipping—but it’s still a mountain to climb.

In contrast, developed economies—G7 or OECD countries, for instance—have high standards of living and almost eradicated extreme poverty which is visible in many pockets of the developing world in Asia and Africa. They score highly on human development and overall socio-economic indicators.

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Even though there is no concrete definition of a developed or a developing economy, many experts consider gross national income (GNI) per capita as revealing data of development.

Now, the World Bank divides countries into four baskets based on their GNI per capita—high income, upper-middle income, lower-middle income, and low income. High-income nations have a GNI per capita of $12,696 and above and are considered developed. India, with a GNI per capita of $2,170, falls into the lower-middle income bracket and is considered “developing" by the World Bank. In fact, all countries with a GNI per capita below $12,696 are considered developing. The Indian economy will need to grow in double digits for a long time to become a developed nation.

The United Nations has its definition of a developing country—it depends on the Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI , with the highest possible score of 1, captures a broad range of factors, including economic growth, life expectancy, health, education and quality of life. A country with a score less than 0.80 is considered developing. India, with a score of 0.645, had a rank of 131 last year, falls in the developing-country bracket.

Still, India, in many ways, is a bundle of contradictions and can match—even surpass—the developed world on some development indicators.

Why is India a study in contrasts?

India is a study in contrasts. Like many developed nations, it’s already a services-led economy. India has morphed into a tech-services powerhouse, with its IT companies serving blue-chip clients across the globe, in the US, EU and beyond. In fact, it never transitioned from an agrarian economy into a manufacturing tiger before becoming a services-powered economy—the pattern followed by many developed economies. 

China’s agrarian economy too made way for manufacturing, becoming the world’s factory, harnessing its low labour costs, skilled workforce and good infrastructure. Bangladesh is now attempting something similar.

India, like developed nations, has top-quality institutes of higher learning, from the IITs to the IIMs. Not considered in the league of MIT, Harvard and Stanford yet, but their alumni have run some of the world’s most influential corporations —from Google and Pepsi to IBM and Twitter.

Then, India has one of the most evolved equity markets in the world, another hallmark of a developed economy. Only recently, India was among the first few countries in the world to adopt the T+1 settlement cycle, making it one of the most transparent equity markets in the world. The country today has both a liquid cash and derivatives market and has rewarded investors, including foreign portfolio investors, handsomely over the past couple of decades.

Now, a reality check.

Almost 50% of India’s labour force is still employed in agriculture. Over 90% of its workers are outside the formal economy, most of them employed with MSMEs. In fact, unemployment levels would be much higher than estimated, given the rampant hidden unemployment in agriculture.

India ranks a low 131 on the UN Human Development Index. India’s literacy levels at 77% are much lower than the global average of 85%. Extreme poverty has halved over the past decade or so to about 10%, but on the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, India ranks a lowly 66 among 109 countries.

Why did Trump stop treating India as a ‘developing’ country?

In February 2020, the Trump administration dropped India and China, along with a few other countries, from its roster of countries labelled “developing" for trade purposes. Countries classified as “developing" can export goods to the US without being slapped tariffs that goods from “developed" countries are levied. The WTO, too, grants trade benefits to “developing countries".

The Trump administration had accused China and India of wrongly seeking trade benefits despite fast-growing domestic economies and a rapidly expanding footprint in global trade. Under the US Generalized System of Preferences, over 2,000 Indian goods were exempt from import tariffs.

Can India become a developed country in the next 25 years?

To become developed in the next 25 years, India will need an long economic boom, sustaining high growth rates to lift millions out of poverty. Remember, China clocked a double-digit real GDP growth for almost three decades, emerging as a manufacturing hub for the world. The results were spectacular—over the past 40 years, the number of poor in China fell by about 800 million, according to the World Bank. In fact, China contributed about three-quarters (75%) of the global reduction in the number of people living in extreme poverty.

India hopes to do something similar with the government’s “Make in India" programme. Like China, it will need an economy on steroids, possibly growing in double digits over the next 25 years. “Indian economy will grow four to five times in nominal terms over the next 25 to 30 years. The challenge is to grow per capita rapidly as well. For that, India will need double-digit growth in nominal terms," says Sachchidanand Shukla, chief economist, Mahindra Group.

But for that to happen, India needs another round of reforms. At the moment, manufacturing is weighed down by archaic labour laws, land acquisition and project approval delays.

There are other gargantuan challenges before India in its quest to become a developed country. For instance, managing rapid urbanization remains a daunting challenge.

Urban centres are the engines of economic growth. India has seen a massive migration to its cities. Niti Aayog estimates India’s urban population has grown more than four-fold between 1970 and 2018, from 109 million to 460 million. “Already the second-largest urban community in the world, the country is expected to add another 416 million people to its cities by 2050 and have an urban share of the population of 50%," says the Aayog.

But this urban transformation would stretch the infrastructure of the cities to a breaking point. Already, slums house 26% of India’s urban population, according to the World Bank. In Mumbai, almost half the population stays in the slums. India needs mammoth capital investment in urban infrastructure, from housing and water to sewerage and transportation. India’s cities would need anywhere between $870 billion and  $1.2 trillion, according to different estimates.

And then, India needs to completely overhaul its basic education infrastructure, which is in a shambles at the moment. Several studies have shown that the learning levels of children in government primary schools are woefully inadequate. A poorly educated and unskilled workforce would prevent India from keeping its tryst with a demographic dividend. The Modi government has taken a raft of measures to overhaul the educational framework and skill India’s youth through initiatives such as the New Education Policy, Skill India and Digital India.

India must reform further if it has to escape the “middle-income trap"—a term coined to refer to low-income countries unable to move to higher per-capita income levels. Many Latin American and Middle-Eastern countries struggled to break out of the “middle-income trap" for decades, Brazil and Mexico among them. The Modi government has to ensure India doesn’t fall into the same trap.

Elsewhere in Mint

In Opinion, Harsh V. Pant writes on the future of India's global pursuit of self interest . Neera Nundy & Rumana Hamid tell how the tradition of India's philanthropic business families matters today. From faux-convents to Saraswati Shishu Mandirs to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan , Anurag Behar tells what shaped Indian education. Long Story tells how a company as old as independent India is innovating to fend off many upstarts.

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Why India is Considered as a Developing Economy? (6 Reasons)

Read this article to learn why India is Considered as a Developing Economy!

After 62 years of Indian independence the economy has achieved several qualities for which she can be considered as a developing nation.

Following are some important reasons behind this terminology:

(i) Increase in Net National Product :

According to the CSO (Central Statistical Organization), India’s net national product at factor cost (NNP at FC), i.e. national income was only Rs 1, 32,367 crores in 1950-51 increased to Rs 12,66,005 crores in 2003-04. During the last two decades the national income has increased significantly to 5.8 % per year compared to 3.4% in first three decades. NN. estimates of first two years of 10 th Fiver year plan are available. In these two years NNP rose at the rate of 6.5% per year although the growth rate was not adequate still it reflects some sign of improvement in terms of NNP at FC.

(ii) Increase in Per Capita (Per Head) Income:

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Increase in per capita net national product at factor cost (per capita income) is considered to be far better index of economic growth. For this reason the planners of Indian economy want to progress the economic growth in terms of per head income.

According to 1993-94 prices, Indian’s per capita income in 1950-51 was Rs, 3,687.1. In 2003-04, within the five decades the per capita income rose to Rs 11,798.7, Although the Planning Commission expected that the per capita income of India would be doubled in twenty years.

However this is an over-optimistic view without any basis. Over twelve years since 1992, the per capita income increased at a rate of 4.2% per year. In the first two years of 10th Five Year Plan per capita NNP at FC increased at the rate of 4.7 per year. However, the overall performance throughout the planning period was not adequate due to long past colonial exploitation.

(iii) Rise in Capital Formation :

According to Simon Kuznets, “Capital formation is necessary condition for economic productivity and growth.” Rise in capital formation leads to increase in the growth of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. During the planning period the gross domestic capital formation had increased from 8.7% in 1950- 51 to 26.3% in 2003-04.

(iv) Industrial Growth :

In India there are no such uniformity during the plan periods as far as industrial growth is concerned. Indian industries during the Third Five Year Plan observed a decent growth of about 8%), but thereafter industrial stagnancy took place. In 1976-77, the growth was abnormally high, but it decreased steadily during 1979 80. Again, it rose up during 80’s, According to Economic Survey, the average] annual industrial growth rate in India which was 5.6% in First Fiver Year Plan had increased to 8.6% during The Tenth Fiver Year Plan.

(v) Agricultural Progress :

The impact of new agricultural policy, i.e., green revolution, had increased our FoodGrain production substantially from 81.0 million tonnes in the Third Plan (annual average) to 212.0 million tonnes in 2003-14. Wheat production increased from 11.1 million tonnes in 2003-04. The average annual production of rice rose from 35.1 million tonnes in Third Five Year Plan to 87.0 million tonnes in 2003 04.

(vi) Rise of Social Over Head Capital :

Social overhead capital includes transportation, irrigation, energy production, education, medical facilities etc. During the overall planning period these sectors had increased considerably.

(a) The railway’s route length increased by more than 9000 kms and the operation fleet has practically doubled.

(b) India’s road network is now one of the largest in the world. The total road length comprising national highways, state highways and other roads was 24.8 lakh kms in 2001-02. Shipping and civil aviation have also improved equally.

(c) India is still facing an energy crisis, but over the past five decades there has been a massive increase in installed electricity generating capacity. In 2003-04, the installed electricity generating capacity was 1, 21,400 MW against 2,300 MW in 1951. Likewise irrigation facilities in the country have been increased raising irrigated area from 2.26 crore hectares in 1950-51 to 8.47 crore hectares in 1999-2000.

(d) During the planning period the number of educational institutions have increased two times, whereas the number of teachers and students increased more than four times. Medical facilities have also increased during this period along with the number of doctors and number of nurses. The bed population is currently 0.93 bed per 1000 population as against 0.33 bed per 1000 population in 1950-51.

Related Articles:

• Top 11 Features of a Developing Economy
• India’s Five Year Plans (Frequently Asked Questions)
• Failures of Economic Planning in India

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Is India the World’s Next Great Economic Power?

• Bhaskar Chakravorti
• Gaurav Dalmia

Historically, the country’s expected rise has remained elusive. Here’s a look at what’s different now.

Is India’s economic rise inevitable? There’s good reason to think that this latest round of Indo-optimism might be different than previous iterations, but the country still has major challenges to address to make good on this promise. In terms of drivers, demand — in the form of a consumer boom, context appropriate innovation, and a green transition — and supply — in the form of a demographic dividend, access to finance, and major infrastructure upgrades — are helping to push the country forward. This is facilitated by policy reforms, geopolitical positioning, and a diaspora dividend. Even so, the country faces barriers to success, including unbalanced growth, unrealized demographic potential, and unrealized ease-of-business and innovation potential.

In 2002, India’s government launched a ubiquitous international tourism campaign known as “Incredible India.” Were it to launch a similar campaign today, it might as well be called “Inevitable India.” Not just enthusiasts within the country, but a chorus of global analysts, have declared India as the next great economic power: Goldman Sachs has predicted it will become the world’s second-largest economy by 2075, and the FT’s Martin Wolf suggests that by 2050, its purchasing power will be 30% larger than that of the U.S.

• Bhaskar Chakravorti is the Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School at Tufts University and founding Executive Director of Fletcher’s Institute for Business in the Global Context . He is the author of The Slow Pace of Fast Change .
• Gaurav Dalmia is the Chairman of Dalmia Group Holdings, an Indian holding company for business and financial assets.

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• Basic Characteristics of India as a Developing Economy

We know that India is a developing country belonging to the Lower Middle-Income group. In this article, we will outline the basic characteristics of India as a developing economy . This will help us gain a better perspective of the Indian Economic conditions.

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In order to understand the Indian Economic landscape, it is important to make note of some of the basic characteristics of India as a developing economy. These are as follows:

Low Per Capita Income (PCI)

According to the International Monetary Fund’s Report, in 2017, India’s PCI was $ 1983 and was ranked 140 out of 188 countries.

Further, according to the World Bank’s Report, in 2017, India’s PCI was $ 1940 and was ranked 138 out of 184 countries.

Therefore, we can conclude that the per capita income of an Indian resident is lower than most countries in the world.

                                                                                                                            Source: ClipArt

Browse more Topics under Indian Economy

• Economic Systems and Sectors of India
• Indian Economics and Development

Occupational Pattern – Primary Producing

One of the fundamental characteristics of India as a developing economy is that it is majorly primary producing. What this means is that a majority of the population is engaged in agriculture (around 52 percent).

However, in 2011-12, the contribution of agriculture to the national income was only 13.9 percent. This disparity is slowing India’s progress.

The reason behind this difference is that agriculture is a low income earning sector. Also, productivity per person engaged in agriculture is very low.

Learn more about Infrastructure and Economic Development in India here in detail.

Population Pressure

Try to read this number: 1,362,099,836.

It is 1.36 billion – the population of India as on January 17, 2019, 21:30 hours. We are the second most populated country in the world and our population is equivalent to around 17.74% of the total world population.

In India, the high levels of illiteracy lead to a high level of birth rates. Further, improvement in medical facilities has increased the average life of an Indian citizen and led to a decline in the death rates too.

Chronic Unemployment and Under-Employment in India

Due to the deficiency of capital in India, it is difficult to engage the entire population in gainful employment.

Therefore, a cheap labor force is available in abundance. As a result, there is chronic unemployment and under-employment in our country.

Steady Improvement in the Rate of Capital Formation

In 2017, the population growth rate in India was 1.13%. Therefore, the economy needed a high amount of investment to offset the additional burden imposed by the rising population.

This balance is critical to maintaining the costs of living. Otherwise, there is a risk that we could achieve growth only at the expense of unacceptable inflation.

Inequality in Wealth/Asset Distribution

Unequal asset distribution is the primary cause of inequality in income distribution in rural areas.

This inequality also highlights the fact that the resource base of 50 percent of households in India is weak.

It is so weak that it can barely provide them with anything above the subsistence level of income.

Poor Human Capital Quality

It is a simple equation. Underdeveloped countries have millions of illiterate citizens. Also, illiteracy retards growth since an individual needs a minimum level of education to acquire skills and/or understand social issues.

Low-levels of Technology

India is a country of eclectic mixes. One one side, a company uses one of the most modern technologies while another company from the same industry uses the most primitive one.

Unfortunately, according to modern scientific standards, the majority of products are made with the help of inferior technologies.

If you take a simple look at the productivity of a developed and underdeveloped nation, then the developed nation has better productivity since it uses superior technologies.

Low Level of Living of an Average Indian

In India , most citizens have a low-calorie intake and also consume low levels of protein thereby failing to secure a balanced diet . One contributing factor is the domination of cereals in our diet.

In contrast, citizens of developed countries consume a rich diet which includes fish, fresh fruits meat, sugar, and butter.

Currently, Indians consume nearly half the amount of protein that a citizen of a developed country does. The result, lesser immunity against diseases and lower efficiency at work. Additionally, the housing scenario is bleak as well.

Demographic Characteristics

Demographically speaking, India has a high density of population with high infant mortality rates and comparatively lower life expectancy as compared to the developed countries. This makes it an underdeveloped economy.

Further, in India, the population density was 412 per square kilometer (in 2010). In comparison, the population density of the USA was 34 per square kilometer.

In fact, even China has a population density of 143 per square kilometer. Therefore, there is a lot of burden on land and other natural resources in India.

Also, India has a huge problem of harnessing the working age population in emerging areas of the economy.

Solved Question for You

Q1. What are the basic characteristics of India as a developing economy?

Answer: The basic characteristics of India as a developing economy are:

• Low per capita income
• Occupational pattern – primary producing
• Heavy population pressure
• Prevalence of chronic unemployment and under-employment
• Need for a steady improvement in the rate of capital formation
• Inequal distribution of wealth and/or assets
• Poor quality of human capital
• Prevalence of low levels of technology
• Low level of living of an average Indian
• Demographic characteristics of an underdeveloped country

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India Is A Developing Country (Essay Sample)

India is a developing country.

India is regarded as the world’s biggest democracy and second most populous country. It has posted a remarkable record of development socially, economically and politically since when she gained independence nearly seven decades ago. Though some aspects of India are world class, most of the issues affecting majority of the citizens are still indicators of a developing nation. Therefore, this article attempts to prove that India is a developing country and she needs to do much to be book a spot on the table of developed countries.

Education standards in India are still low especially in the northern states. India is still struggling with the problem of illiteracy in some areas. Education is a key driver for development and low literacy levels in some parts of the country are dragging the country’s economic progress. Illiteracy also leads to low income levels and hardly profitable economic activities that have no place in the 21st century. Whenever education quality and standards are low, retrogressive culture takes root and stalls economic, social, cultural and political progress. It is also a key factor in increasing unemployment levels in the country.  Basic needs and high dependence ration also stem from such cultures and threaten her economic goals. Therefore, until this problem is addressed comprehensively, India’s quest for being a developed country will remain elusive.

Diseases and poor health facilities is also a challenge in India. It is undeniable that India has an elaborate health system but it is not accessible to every citizen at relatively affordable rates. Medication is still expensive to many households and shows a faulty health system. Creating a comprehensive and all-inclusive health system is nearly impossible and therefore it has affected the mortality rate of the country especially in the rural areas and in the northern states. Some diseases are a product of poor sanitation and open defecation which is rampant in the country. Sanitation is still a challenge in the country especially in the cities. Sanitation, diseases and good health system are necessary to map India as a developed country.

India also has high income inequality. The inequality is fueled by classicism and poor government policies. There a few billionaires relative to the country’s population who cannot afford basic needs. The system continually exploits the poor adding to the gap between the rich and the poor. The poor have very low income per capita which poses a huge challenge to the government in her bid to eradicate poverty. The country however maintains that less than 30% of her population is poor while according to international standards over 800 million live below $2 a day. This income inequality coupled with classicism and low per capita income clearly shows that India is a developing country.

India’s high population is also an impediment to her development agenda. As the second most populous country in the world, she ought to institute a plan in place to contain and reduce her population since bigger population will pose challenges and slow her development. One child policy among other measures can be taken to control the ever-increasing population with experts predict will overtake China’s in five years at the time of this publication.  However, this measure ought to be applied with caution since it might lead to human resource crisis and hence economic crisis in the future.

Concisely, India has made major strides in development since she became independent. She has also become a recognizable power regionally and internationally for her economic growth. However, she still has a way to go to book her spot on the table of developed countries. This article highlights some of the reason why she is still developing and suggests possible ways that she can adapt to fast-track her progress.

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Driven by China, Coal Plants Made a Comeback in 2023

The country, along with India, is still building power stations that run on coal. Elsewhere, retirements of older plants have slowed.

By Max Bearak

Global capacity to generate power from coal, one of the most polluting fossil fuels, grew in 2023, driven by a wave of new plants coming online in China that coincided with a slowing pace of retirements of older plants in the United States and Europe.

The findings came in an annual report by Global Energy Monitor , a nonprofit organization that tracks energy projects around the world.

Coal’s heavy greenhouse gas footprint has prompted calls for it to be rapidly phased out as a source of energy, and all of the world’s countries have broadly agreed to reduce their dependence on coal. But industrializing economies, particularly in Asian countries with inexpensive access to domestic coal reserves, have set longer horizons for their transitions.

China alone accounted for two-thirds of the world’s newly operating coal plants last year. Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Japan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and South Korea also inaugurated new plants, which typically operate for two to three decades.

A New Surge in Power Use Is Threatening U.S. Climate Goals

A boom in data centers and factories is straining electric grids and propping up fossil fuels.

One silver lining is that new coal plants are generally less polluting than older ones, but scientists, climate researchers and activists agree that moving away from not just coal, but all fossil fuels, has to happen as soon as possible to avoid the most dire consequences of global warming.

“Right now, coal’s future is a two-part story: What do we do about currently operating coal plants, and then, how do we make sure the last coal plant that will ever exist is one that’s already built,” said Flora Champenois, one of the authors of the report. “If it weren’t for the China boom, that’s pretty much where we’d already be.”

China, and, to a lesser extent, India, are still planning to build coal plants many years from now. In 2023, new coal plant construction hit an eight-year high in China. If China were to build all the others it has proposed, it would add the equivalent of one-third of its current operating fleet.

Today, China accounts for around 60 percent of the world’s coal use, followed by India and then the United States. India relies most intensively on coal, with 80 percent of its electricity generation derived from it.

The flip side of the growth in coal is a slowdown in plant retirements in Western economies. Fewer were decommissioned in 2023 than in any year for the past decade. Phasing out all operating coal plants by 2040 would require closing an average of about two coal plants per week.

Analysts said the slowdown in 2023 may have been temporary, as the United States, Britain and European Union countries have set various targets to close all their existing coal plants well before 2040. The International Energy Agency’s modeling suggests that, to align with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels, rich countries should phase out coal by 2030 and it should be eliminated everywhere else by 2040.

“We had said that 2024 was the year coal would peak,” said Carlos Torres Diaz, a senior vice president at Rystad Energy. “But right now, I would say it’s not clear we’ll hit that. We’re near it, in any case.”

Western countries relied on coal for well over a century, which is why, in no small part, they account for the majority of historical greenhouse gas emissions.

In an attempt to balance financial responsibility for the energy transition, richer countries have pooled tens of billions of dollars in loans to some coal-reliant developing countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and South Africa to help them build out renewable energy so as to transition more quickly away from coal. For now, however, much of that money remains undisbursed as stakeholders iron out disagreements.

For many developing countries, coal has one major advantage: It’s cheap. Its price has also proved less volatile than oil and gas, the other major fossil fuels used in electricity production.

Bangladesh, for instance, had been building up its gas capacity. But fluctuations in price and availability, stemming largely from shocks related to the war in Ukraine, have prompted a rethink and a reinvestment in coal.

The same dynamic is, to some extent, true in China, analysts said. The pandemic’s toll on China’s economy has made its utilities more likely to opt for the cheapest fuel: coal.

China also leads the world in renewable energy expansion. That growth far outpaces coal’s growth, and in some cases is tied to it. China’s government says that much of the coal it uses or plans to use would serve as a fallback for times when renewable production dips and the grid requires more energy.

“While the data isn’t totally clear from China, it is possible that while there may be more coal plants there could also be lower utilization of them,” Mr. Diaz said. “But when it comes to coal, given that China is such an overwhelming part, whatever happens there really defines the global trend.”

An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the last time the group found coal capacity to have grown. Coal capacity outside China grew in 2019, not coal capacity everywhere.

How we handle corrections

Max Bearak is a Times reporter who writes about global energy and climate policies and new approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. More about Max Bearak

Learn More About Climate Change

Have questions about climate change? Our F.A.Q. will tackle your climate questions, big and small .

“Buying Time,” a new series from The New York Times, looks at the risky ways  humans are starting to manipulate nature  to fight climate change.

Big brands like Procter & Gamble and Nestlé say a new generation of recycling plants will help them meet environmental goals, but the technology is struggling to deliver .

The Italian energy giant Eni sees future profits from collecting carbon dioxide and pumping it  into natural gas fields that have been exhausted.

New satellite-based research reveals how land along the East Coast is slumping into the ocean, compounding the danger from global sea level rise . A major culprit: the overpumping of groundwater.

Did you know the ♻ symbol doesn’t mean something is actually recyclable ? Read on about how we got here, and what can be done.

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