ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we will discuss the period initiated in 1991 since the New Economic Policy (NEP) implementation. After more than 25 years of the NEP, the Indian growth path and global insertion are still underdiscussed. In order to contribute and have a better understanding of this period, first, we broadly present the Indian political and geopolitical contexts, and then we introduce the different interpretations of the growth process since the NEP. This period is commonly described as one of liberalisation of the Indian economy. Some relevant contextual aspects and growth drivers are introduced to give an alternative, demand-led growth understanding. We point out that the main growth acceleration occurred during the 1980s and from the 2000s on, but not in the 1990s. We show that upper-class/caste autonomous consumption, pushed by a credit boom and global capital inflows; government and private investment in infrastructure, driven by energy and urbanisation pressures; and the export growth, mainly explained by the particular role of the Indian Diaspora in the US and the complementation between Indian capabilities and the US Information and Communications Technology (ICT) outsourcing business opportunities, are of main importance to understand the Indian growth process. Government expenditure did not decrease after 25 years of the NEP.
