Political Economy Paper Instruction Each student in this class is required to write a research paper in which they explore a key issue in the political economy of development. The paper should have a...

Introduction
Country: India
The paper talks about the country India which has a rich history of being rich in all sorts of things including minerals, commodities, and whatnot. Not only this the country has been ruled by many different kings, the last empire which ruled the country was the British Empire which ruled the country for more than 200 years, but finally, it got independence in the year 1947. The paper discusses the history of the country, and all the development that has taken place in the country over the years, along with the challenges faced, and the strategies that were used to overcome those challenges if they have been overcome, and at last, the paper will identify the lessons which can be drawn from all the discussions.
History
India’s economic development has its own story with the country opening[footnoteRef:1] in the year 1991, through liberalisation which was the biggest reform the country took in the 44 years of independence. India before this reform was a closed economy, witnessing more poverty across all the states and union territories, this closed economy was not only a problem but it was not letting the growth take place because of the ‘license raj’ which was followed by the country, which meant that any industry or company that had to be set up needed a license from the government, and not this is not like taking permission because it has its drawbacks and complexities which was making the country to not open up and do free trade, but in the year 1991, the economic liberalisation changed everything with the removal of license raj from some industries and the first step which the country made towards a free-market economy. Since then, the country has looked backwards, with a growth rate reaching as high as 15% in some years, to becoming the 5th largest economy in the world India has come a long way [1: Savarkar, V. (2020). Six glorious epochs of Indian history. Prabhat Prakashan.
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Development
Development is a strong word when it is associated with countries, and for a country like India which is home to approximately 130 billion people, the word becomes much more important. The development strides that the country has taken are huge, the country now ranks second in most of the production-related industries, and the country is the second-largest agricultural producer. With this India also ranks 8th in the Service Sector, with most countries relying on India for their service-related works.
Looking at the consumption of the country, India consumes the second-largest amount of Oil in the whole Asia-Pacific region, the first being China. This is fair because of the rising population and the growing demand in every sector like electricity, food, and many more.
It is India’s development strategies and the various reforms which were taken by the various governments in the country that made it possible for the country to rise to this level, and it was never expected that the growth that the country will be witnessing will be so rampant. Also, the 1991 reforms brought in many changes and improvements which led to the development, some of which are:
· Private sector entering different industries
· Foreign companies looking to invest in the country
· Removal of oligopolies which were run by the big families in the country
These economic reforms brought the foreign companies to the Indian landscape and increased competition which ultimately increased the quality of the goods produced, this also led to the privatisation of the public sector industries with banking one of the core industries in the development of any country getting private, and since the first private bank, the country’s whole environment has changed.
Development Challenges
India currently is at the most important stage of its whole development timeline, this is not because the country has come a long way in its development journey, but because the country has a lot on its plate which must be dealt with and this increases many challenges which the country will face. The first and the most important factor for all the development challenges is the 1.35 billion people who reside in the country making it the second-most populous country in the world. And because the country is home to a population of as big as 16% of the total population across the globe, makes the country home to a huge number of people who are living in poverty, according to a recent study conducted by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Bain & Company, shared a finding that the country is lifting nearly 25 million households out of poverty which is huge and this poses a great risk.
The development challenges that the country faces or will face in the future because of many factors like increasing population are:
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