Introduction:
India, located in southern Asia, has a robust past along with an on-the-go modern economy. Poverty reduction, improved education, and accessibility of healthcare services are signposts of advancement in the country. Nonetheless, there are persistent challenges that the country faces despite the success it has made: high levels of inequality, corruption, and environmental deterioration. Therefore to fully understand what India’s economy is today, one will need to look into India’s economic and political past. The strengths and weaknesses of India’s policy for the development of the nation. It focuses on SDGs 3 and 13, which are health care and tackling climate change, respectively. To that effect, India’s story presents a historical progression juxtaposed by current dilemmas for full-scale scrutiny of its development policies.
Thesis: This analysis scrutinizes India’s economic landscape, uncovering both the commendable strides and persistent hurdles while also investigating the efficacy of its strategies to achieve SDGs 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and 13 (Climate Action).
Economic and Political History:
The modern economic landscape of India reflects this intricately detailed history dating back for thousands of years. India was once a powerful global economy known for its trade in spices, textiles, and cultural exchange. The economic structure of India was highly influenced by the colonial period, especially during the British rule between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. Colonization introduced an exploitative land taxation system as well as destroyed local industries and had an adverse impact on the Indian economy (Chaturvedi et al., 2019). It transformed from a vibrant agricultural economy to a resource base for supplying British industrial requirements with subsequent mass poverty and economic standstill.
When the British finally left India after they colonized it for decades, this was a landmark event in the history of India’s economy. Led by the way of the country, including Jawaharlal Nehru, India adopted a self-sufficiency policy through an import substitution industrialization program. The period marked the rise of heavy industries, public sector businesses, and a planned economy (Chaturvedi et al., 2019). Nevertheless, at some point, this approach proved unreliable because of deficiencies, internal obstacles, and low international competitiveness. The decade of the nineties was marked by economic reforms in India led by Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh. It is usually referred to as economic liberalization in India, which means the opening of the economy to FDI for the reduction of trade barriers, privatization, etc. (Chaturvedi et al., 2019). This led to far-reaching transformations such as the withdrawal of licensing regulations, reduction in budget deficits, and deregulation within sectors like telecommunication and finance. The reforms were a driving force behind India’s global economic inclusion. This led to high economic growth rates and provided more career prospects for people.
Politics, too, was involved, and it shaped economic policies over the same historical phases. This included democratic governance characterized by a multiparty system and regular polling, which formed conditions for policymaking, although it was at times associated with more time-consuming decision-making. Economic policies were also driven by political ideologies, which sometimes dictated an even split between state involvement and laissez-faire (Goel et al., 2019). Therefore, India’s economic history is woven with a narrative of changes—of an emerging empire before independence, a state of planning after freedom, and an open market system today. Unraveling such historical complexities sheds light on the genesis of the contemporary economic conundrum and prospects in India.
Current Economic Situation:
India stands as an example of its economy’s ability to withstand global uncertainty. India has been a leading country among global economies, growing fast even under difficult circumstances (World Bank). Despite this, the country registered excellent economic performance, maintaining a six-point nine percent for the full financial year. At the same time, the gross domestic products grew at seven point seven percent per annum over the first nine months of the financial year 2022/33 (Sharma & Popli, 2023). Such growth trajectory goes on to prove that India is an economically vibrant country on the international scene.
A muted optimism on the outlook of India’s economic future can be achieved through a look into Deloitte Insights. In their base case, they project a GDP growth rate of between 6.5% – 6.8% over FYs 2023/2014. However, they forecast average annual growth rates ranging between 6.65% and 7.95% in the next two years, which is expectedly to be driven by a bright economic prospect globally (Goel et al., 2019). The same applies to India’s forecasted sustained economic expansion driven by indigenous and foreign forces.
Just like that, the IMF puts it at more than six percent in both 2023 and 2024. This indicates that India is capable of dealing with global economic shocks and continues on a growth trajectory. Consumption and investments account for nearly seventy percent of total economic activity in India, making it largely a domestic demand-driven economy (Goel et al., 2019). The orientation towards domestic affairs makes it insulated from foreign shocks in line with the significance of internal economics. Looking forward, the country’s GDP will be approximately $4.2 trillion in FY 2024, with a nominal growth rate of around 10.5% in the current financial year. The above projection brings out the impact that the Indian economy has and also shows how it will contribute greatly to world economics (Govinda et al., 2019). India has continued to be like this as the nation moves past the present challenges and takes advantage of growth determinants.
III. Strengths and Weaknesses of Development Policies:
India’s development trail is full of different policies that fuel its advancement; however, these policies do have their shortcomings. This requires a much subtler investigation into, and an insightful explanation about, why and how India’s economy has evolved so far based on such policies.
Strengths:
Economic Liberalization: Liberalization was effected under the leadership of Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, among others, on the economic reforms of the 1990s. Breaking down licensing systems, removing trade restrictions, and promoting international investments offered opportunities for economic development (Govinda et al., 2019). India’s becoming a prominent global economic actor had been facilitated greatly by a significant shift away from a closed and statist model of an economy.
Information Technology and Innovation: The strength of India in IT has significantly boosted its powers in this domain. It has provided a much-needed economic boost in the country’s IT sector, known for its software services and business process outsourcing. It now positions India as a major tech hub (Koch et al., 2018). Innovations of a technological nature have been accelerated by investments in research and development, thus giving an advantage to competition.
Demographic Dividend: India possesses an energetic and youthful demographic cohort, which is sometimes called a “demographic dividend.” The huge labor force has been a great strength for it, adding much to economic productivity and fostering the inward flow of foreign investment (Koch et al., 2018). However, strategic policies that build on skill development and education will be key elements to exploit this demographic advantage.
Weaknesses:
Inequality: One of the strongest challenges persists in the form of high levels of inequality. However, economic growth does not necessarily lead to equal distribution of riches. These disparities continue to be present across urban and rural locations as well as varied social classes (Koch et al., 2018). Challenging inequality should come along with tackling three crucial aspects: education, employment, and social safety.
Bureaucratic Hurdles: In as much as there is much talk about economic liberalization, bureaucratic bottlenecks continue and remain a problem of doing business. Such obstacles to sound administration include slow-moving bureaucratic procedures, red tape, and legal hurdles (Koch et al., 2018). To promote investment and create an investor friendly business environment, streamlining of bureaucratic processes is critical.
Environmental Sustainability: It has been a period of fast economic advancement; however, this process has resulted in ecological problems such as pollution and depletion of resources. This is a major issue that is how to balance the economy and environment (Koch et al., 2018). Industrialization should take into consideration environmentally friendly policies, renewable energy sources, and sustainable practices in order to minimize environmental impacts.
Infrastructure Deficits: India has advanced in infrastructure building, but there still needs to be more transportation, medical services, and educational programs, for example. A country needs more infrastructure to achieve the full potential of the demographic dividend. Sustainable development is reliant on policies that focus on infrastructure development (Koch et al., 2018). As such, India’s development policies have created notable strengths that have made the country an economic giant. Nonetheless, it is vital to address weaknesses in order to promote sustainable and inclusive growth. Critical evaluation of these policies shows that a country must constantly be evolving in its policies on development so as to understand its dynamics.
SDGs 3 and 13 Pursuits:
There has been tremendous advancement in reducing poverty and providing free education and health care for all in India. Additionally, the country has established national plans and interventions on health and climate aimed at meeting SDG 3 and SDG 13.
Healthy life and population well-being: tThissub-goal must cover all people of a particular age under goal number 3. To make this come true, India has introduced a number of measures, such as programs. For instance, the NHM refers to a program that focuses on creating an environment for affordable yet reliable healthcare delivery to all individuals (Prachitha et al., 2019). NHM has made significant strides in maternal-child health, lowered infant mortality cases, and increased immunization coverage. India has rolled out the Ayushman Bharat health insurance program that provides health insurance coverage for underserved populations. This strategy has helped millions of people enjoy financial security, and also increased accessibility of healthcare services.
The thirteenth SGD aims at taking urgent actions towards climate change mitigation and adaptation. The country also adopts a number of measures, including policies and programs geared toward achieving this end. A good example is the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), which states how India will combat climate change by mitigating and adapting. Eight national missions make up the NAPCC, covering key aspects of combating climate change and including energy, agriculture, and water resources etc (Prachitha et al, 2019). As such, they have created the International Solar Alliance meant to encourage the use of solar energy, thus reducing dependency on fossil fuels like coal, oil, etc.
The commitment of india towards SDGS 3 and 13 has resulted in the improvement of the state’s development. Through the implementation of NHM and Ayushman Bharat, many lives have benefitted in terms of access to available healthcare services as well as financial risks. One example, among many others, is that both The NAPCC (National Action Plan for Climate Change) and the International Solar Alliance have enabled India to diminish its carbon footprint and propagate the utilization of renewable energy (Satapathy & Paltasingh, 2022). Nevertheless, some challenges remain in this regard. Quality of care has to be improved in India, together with the question of air pollution, which is one of the most significant causes of climate change. Thus, India has done quite a lot on SDGs 3 and 13. In this respect, the nation has adopted various programs for better healthcare provision and addressing the climate change problem (Satapathy & Paltasingh, 2022). These have been successful as far as improving the living conditions of the country. Nevertheless, the job has yet to be done completely. India will have to keep investing in the health sector, renewable energy, and addressing some remaining challenges.
Conclusion:
The story of Indian development is one of complexity and dynamism with marked progress but persisting troubles. Policies in India relate to grappling with inequality and corruption as well as addressing environmental problems. Although the country has registered improvements such as poverty reduction and education, it faces daunting problems. SDGs’ pursuits 3 and 13 depict India’s commitment to healthcare and climate actions. Nonetheless, a path toward full development is convoluted and requires further innovative policies, inclusiveness, and total approaches to overcome the embedded obstacles. The story of India illustrates the synergy between forward strides and enduring barriers toward comprehensive evolution.
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