ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines some major economic developments and reviews critical issues for the economy. It looks at two cross-cutting concerns: first, questions about resources, internal and external; second, challenges in the realm of economic management. The economy had inherited a whole apparatus of controls used by the British during the war, and in a government that liked to call itself "socialist" or "socialistic" there was little admiration for the magic of the market. Throughout the history of foreign economic aid to developing countries India had been, in absolute terms, a major recipient of concessional assistance. As greater reliance is placed on the market it should be increasingly feasible to delegate functions to the state level without destroying the coherence of national economic policy. The most immediate and urgent unresolved issue for the Indian economy is exports.
