Unit 1

Reading 1: Vijay Joshi, 2016, India’s Long Road: The Search for Prosperity, Allen Lane, Gurgaon,Ch 2

1. “In the first phase, 1950– 1980, economic strategy largely followed a ‘command and control
model’. In the second phase, 1980– 2015, economic strategy moved towards greater
marketization…”. Compare and explain, how were the two periods different in terms of
policy and its outcomes?
2. “The change in policy orientation was quite pronounced but it was also incomplete and lop-
sided. As a result, towards the end of the period, rapid growth appeared to be running out of
steam.” In which period of the Indian Economy, was the change in policy orientation
considered incomplete and how did it impact the performance in the years that followed?
3. What has been the progress of social indicators such as poverty and inequality post 1980 in
the background of respective policies and programs?

Reading 2: Rakesh Mohan, 2019, Moving India to a new Growth Trajectory: Need for a
Comprehensive Big Push Pg.9-20

1. The story of India’s growth performance has been blessed with accelerated periods and
plagued with stagnant periods. Explain this statement in context of the developments in the
growth era of 2003-08, the recent deceleration of 2012-18 and interregnum of 1965-81.
2. Elaborate the performance of Indian economy in context of sectoral progress , inflation and
savings- investment behaviour between 1950 and 2018.

Unit 2:

Reading 1: Dev, M. (2018) Transformation of Indian Agriculture? Growth, Inclusiveness and

1. How can goals agricultural development be understood in context of India? Also explain the
kind of policy changes required to achieve the desired goals of agricultural development in
India.
2. Elaborate of the performance and issues in context of agricultural growth & structural
transformation, equity and sustainability in India.
3. How can farm income be enhanced, along with improving the inclusiveness (regionally and
gender-wise) and sustainability of practices? What is the role of non-agriculture in improving
performance of agricultural sector?

Reading 2: Chakraborty J. Nagaraj, R. (2020). Has India Deindustrialised Prematurely? A

1. On the basis of analysis of national level data for major states and most districts, what can be
said about premature deindustrialisation in India?
2. “Most advanced economies have passed through this phase as a “natural” progression to the
post-industrial, or services-oriented, economy (with output and employment shares moving in
tandem). During the past few decades, however, many Latin American and African economies
have deindustrialised prematurely, or before attaining high levels of per capita income and
industrial maturity.” In this context, as per empirical evidence, in which direction does India
seemed to have moved in context of deindustrialisation?
Reading 3: Chanda, R. (2019). India's Services Sector; trends, opportunities and challenges, in Uma
Kapila(ed.), Indian economy-2; Macroeconomic policies, Sectoral Developments and Performance.
(Chp.29)

1. Indicate the performance of the Indian services sector in terms of growth and trade. What
role does the service sector play in adding value to the economy, especially in the
manufacturing sector?

2. Write Short notes:

Unit 3

Reading 1: Desai, S., 2015, “Demographic deposit, dividend and debt”, The Indian Journal of
Labour Economics, 58, 217-232.

1. Discuss the concept of Demographic dividend, demographic deposit and demographic debt,
in context of economic growth in India.

Reading 2: Executive Summary, 2014, Report of the Expert Group to Review the Methodology for
Measurement of Poverty (Rangarajan Committee report), GOI, 1-5

1. The issues in measurement of poverty remain despite the timely improvisation in the
methodology. In this context elaborate the issues as before highlighted by Expert group
(Rangarajan, 2014) and the outcome of the methodology that was adopted by them to
address the issues.

Unit 4:

Reading 1: Pulapre Balakrishnan, 2007, “The Recovery of India: Economic Growth in the Nehru
Era”, Economic and Political Weekly, November.

1. Evaluate the relationship between the policy regime and growth performance during 1950-
64 for the Indian Economy, with special focus on the alternatives of industrial growth
available during the First and second five-year plans. What was its impact on agriculture and
public enterprises?
2. Discuss the relevance of Nehru-Mahalanobis strategy as Heavy goods sector focussed
strategy and the contrasting Vakil-Brahmananda Plan which focussed on Wage goods Sector.

Reading 2: Batra, A. (2022). India’s Trade Policy in the 21st Century. Ch-8 Conclusions & Reform
Priorities , 156-165. Routledge.

1. “The most significant development in global trade in the 21st century has been the
predominance of global value chain-led trade. The rapid pace and acceleration of
fragmentation and geographical dispersion of production across the world and the
consequent multiple border crossing of intermediate goods/parts and components has been
the underlying phenomenon leading the multifold increase in global merchandise trade over
the last two decades.” Discuss the relevance of Global value chains in context of Indian Trade
policy in 21st Century.
Reading 3: India Development Update : India’s trade opportunities in a changing global context,
World Bank, September 2024, Executive Summary, 2-4 and Trade Policy Priorities: Reducing Costs,
Lowering Barriers, and Re-strategizing Participation in FTAs , 42-43

1. Discuss the status of Indian economy in terms of domestic indicators and current account
deficit and highlight India’s trade opportunities in a changing global context.