The Nehru-Era Economic History and Thought & Their Lasting Impact

Abstract At independence in 1947, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru embarked upon two foundational projects to build modern India: a political project aimed at establishing democracy and an economic one aimed at ending poverty. Three-quarters of a century later, his political project is a resounding success, but the opposite is true of the economic one. While much has been written in recent years on the Nehru-era political history and thought and its impact on post-independence India, no such work on the economic side exists. The present volume fills this gap. It draws on numerous contemporary documents and writings to examine the evolution of Nehru’s economic philosophy with socialism, self-sufficiency, and heavy-industry development at its core. It discusses in full detail the historical circumstances and contemporary thought that led to near unanimity on adopting a development model that, in hindsight, was deeply and obviously flawed. It goes on to highlight how the focus on heavy industry and self-sufficiency translated into myriad inefficiencies and an exclusionary development model that left all but a small elite out of the mainstream growth process. The volume goes on to argue that the entrenchment of socialist thought within the country’s democratic polity effectively ruled out any major change of course for many decades. The bequest of socialist thought from one generation to the next led to its perpetuation among politicians, bureaucrats, intellectuals, and even businessmen. The result was that alternative ideas failed to germinate, with a change of course ruled out until an economic crisis closed all other options.