INDIA DEVELOPMENT

India Development

India Development

India's economic development process

Economic development in India depends on the various sectors that constitute the Indian economy - these are primarily the agriculture, services and manufacturing industries.

India is rated as one of the top economies in the world in terms of the purchasing power parity of the gross domestic product by leading financial entities of the world such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the CIA.

As far as agriculture is concerned, India is in the second largest in volume of output. Certain connected sectors of the agricultural sector have played a major role in the development of the Indian economy by providing employment to a number of people in the forestry, fishing and logging industries.

During 2005, the agricultural sector contributed 18.6% to the entire GDP, and at least 60% of the total labour force working in India was employed in the agricultural sector. (Edwards 2007)

Production volume has gone up in Indian agriculture at a consistent rate since the 1950s. Much of this improvement can be credited to the various five-year plans that were instituted for the development of Indian agriculture . Developments in irrigation processes, as well as various modern technologies used have contributed to the overall improvement of agricultural processes.

Substantial amounts of research and development have been carried out in the agricultural sphere in India by organizations such as the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, the Indian Agricultural Research Statistics Institute, and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

In the industrial arena, India is 14th in volume of factory output. Economic developmental roles are also being played in the areas of gas, mining, electricity and quarrying. All these sectors contribute significantly to the GDP, and provide jobs to India's citizens.

India is regarded as the 15th best economy in terms of work production by the services sector. A sizeable amount of the Indian workforce is also employed by the service sector. In the ten-year period between 1990 and 2000, the rate of growth has been 7.5%, which is more than the 4.5% rate during the 30-year period from 1951 to 1980.

Sectors such as information technology (IT), software development, call centres, IT outsourcing, business process outsourcing (BPO), and other IT-enabled services have been the biggest contributors in the services sector of the Indian economy. (Caves 2007)

Like most of the world, however, India is facing testing economic times in 2008. The Reserve Bank of India had set an inflation target of 4%, but by the middle of the year it was running at 11%, the highest level seen for a decade. The rising costs of oil, food and the resources needed for India's construction boom are all playing a part.

India has to compete ever harder in the energy market place in particular and has not been as adept at securing new fossil fuel sources as the Chinese. The Indian Government is looking at alternatives, and has signed a wide-ranging nuclear treaty with the US, in part to gain access ...