ABSTRACT
The most important British contribution to the Indian economy in the nineteenth century was the development of a new form of business organisation, without an exact parallel elsewhere, known as the Managing Agency System. The commercial classes of England were at this time in a dynamic, expansive mood, and when British merchants in India began to prosper they looked round for profitable ways of utilising their wealth. When a few Managing Agencies had acquired a reputation for sound management and integrity, companies other than those promoted by them began to come under their management. The system was very economical of the limited supply of managerial ability and, indeed, made up for the lack of Indian industrial leaders. Progress depended upon British capital and a system which left control in the hands of a reputable British managing agent attracted that capital to India.
