The Indian Economy section of the UPSC syllabus covers a comprehensive range of topics essential for understanding the nation's economic framework and addressing related challenges. Key areas include the historical evolution and planning of the economy, phases of economic development, and measures of economic growth and development. The syllabus also explores resource mobilization, inclusive growth, government financial planning, fiscal and monetary policies, and the financial system. Additionally, it covers global trade, agriculture, the industrial sector, and infrastructure.
Indian Economy and Issues Relating to Planning
Indian Economy in Pre-Independence Period
- Economy on Eve of Independence
- Challenges
- Features
Post-Independence India
- Issues
- Agriculture and its development so far
- Industry
- Service
Phases of Economic Development in India
- Nehruvian Socialist Economy
- Economic Reforms
Planning
- Objectives
- Planning History
- Analysis of Each Plan
Growth & Development
- Economic Growth in India:
- National Income Determination: GDP, GNP, NDP, NNP, Personal Income
- Economic Growth versus Economic Development
- Measures of Economic Development: Human Development Index, GDP, Gender-related Development Index, Poverty Index
- Economic and Social Development in India: Millennium Development Goals, Sustainable Development Goals and India
Employment and Resource Mobilization
Resource Mobilization
- Types of resources: Physical capital and finance capital
- Need for resource mobilization
- Sources of resource mobilization
- Public Sector and Private Sector Savings and investment over the five-year plan
- Budgetary resources: Tax and Non-Tax
- Role of Public Debt in resource mobilization and effects
- Role of fiscal and monetary policies in resource mobilization
- Role of foreign investment in resource mobilization
Inclusive Growth and Associated Challenges
- Definition and Notion of Inclusivity
- India's Experience and the Process of Inclusion in the Social Sector
- Realities on the Ground and Functioning of Key Initiatives
- Economic Expansion Rooted in the Rural Sphere
- Necessity for Sustainable Agriculture, Ensuring Food Security, and Building Resilience to Foster Growth
- Public Distribution Programs: A Pathway to Achieve Inclusive Development
- Financial Inclusion as a Catalyst for Promoting Inclusivity
- Strategies for Mitigating Poverty and Generating Employment to Foster Inclusive Progress
- Collaboration between the Public and Private Sectors to Promote Inclusive Development
- Employing Sectoral and Geographic Diversification as Tools for Advancing Inclusivity
- Governmental Policies and Initiatives Geared Towards Achieving Inclusive Growth
Important Schemes
- Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
- MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency)
- Utilization (SETU)
- Skill India
- Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)
- Kisan Card
- Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)
- National Agriculture Market (NAM)
- Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojana
- Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Suraksha Yojana
- Atal Pension Yojana
- Digital India Programme
Government Financial Planning
Government Financial Planning
- Allocation of Funds
- Vocabulary Related to Budgeting
- Categories of Financial Plans
- Characteristics of Result-Oriented Financial Planning
- Integration of Railway and Overall Financial Plans
- Advantages of Financial Allocation
- Limitations in the Process of Financial Planning
- Examination of Budgetary Measures
Investment Models
- Need for Investment
- Sources of Investment
- Measures of Investment
- Capital and Investment
- Factors Affecting Investment
- Classification of Investment
- Types of Investment Models: Domestic Investment Models, Public Investment Model, Private Investment Model, Public-Private Participation (PPP) Investment Model
- Foreign Investment Models (FDI, FII, etc.)
- Role of State - PPP (Public-Private Partnership)
- Savings and Investment Trends
Fiscal Policy
Fiscal Policy in India
- Important Budgetary Terms and Fiscal Concept
- Government Revenues & Spending
- Deficits and its financing
- Revenue Deficit
- Fiscal Deficit
- Primary Deficit
- Balance Sheet
Taxation
- Principles of Tax Collection
- Taxation for Gathering Finances
- Taxation Framework in India
- Contemporary Tax Strategy in India
- Financial Support
- Tax Restructuring
- Progress of Goods and Services Tax (GST)
- Retrospective Taxation in the Indian Context
Monetary Policy in India
Monetary Policy in India
- India's Monetary Strategy
- Tools for Managing Monetary Policy
- Monetary Approach Before Economic Reforms
- Monetary Approach After Economic Reforms
- Recommendations from the Urjit Patel Committee
- Monetary Policy Committee and Targeting Inflation
Financial System
Indian Financial System
- An Overview
- Components of the Indian Financial System
- Financial Institutions-Banking and Depository Institutions
- Non-Banking and Non-Depository Institutions
- Other Entities: (Regulatory, Intermediaries, Non-Intermediaries)
- Financial Assets (Call Money, Notice Money, Term Money, Treasury Bills, CDs, Commercial Paper)
- Financial Services (Banking, Insurance, Investment, Forex)
- Financial Markets (Capital, Money, Forex, Credit)
Banking System in India
- Structure and Roles of Banking in India
- Types of Banks in India: Central Bank (Reserve Bank of India), Cooperative Banks, Commercial Banks, Public Sector Banks, Private Sector Banks, Foreign Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Local Area Banks, Specialized Banks, Small Finance Banks, Payments Banks
- Bank Nationalization in India
- Banking Sector Reforms: Narasimhan Committee, Nachiket Mor Committee, P J Nayak Committee
Development Finance Institutions
- IFCI, ICICI, SIDBI, IDBI, UTI, LIC, GIC
- New Bank Licensing Criteria
- Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs)
- Financial Inclusion in India: PMJDY, Payment Banks, and Small Banks
- Non-Performing Assets (NPAs)
- Rise of Neo Banks
- Emerging Concept of Bad Banks
- Indian Insurance Sector
- Bank Privatization
- Account Aggregator System
- Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs)
Global Trade & International Entities
International Trade
- India's Balance of Payments: Current Account, Capital account, Trade of Goods and Services
- Performance of India's Balance of Payments
- Comparison between Balance of Payments and Balance of Trade
- Distinction Between Current and Capital Accounts
- Impact of Global Integration on the Indian Economy
- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
- Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) in India
- Overseas Commercial Borrowing
- Foreign Exchange Rate Determination
- Types of Exchange Rate
- Capital and Current Account Convertibility in India
The Bretton Woods Twins
- World Bank
- International Monetary Fund
- World Bank Group
- World Trade Organisation (WTO) and India
- ADB, NDB, BRICS Bank, AIIB
- Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India
Important Reports
- Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)
- Direct Benefit Transfers
- National Food Security Act
- Agriculture Marketing
- Key Crops
Agriculture in India
The Contribution of Agriculture to the Indian Economy
- Historical Context and Current Status
- Cropping Systems: Varieties – Mono-cropping, Crop Rotation, Sequential Cropping, Inter Cropping, Relay Cropping
- Direct and Indirect Farm Subsidies and Minimum Support Prices
- Concerns and Consequences of Farm Subsidies in India: Meaning, Functioning, Rationale of subsidies
- Buffer Stocks
- Public Distribution System in India: Explanation, Issues, Functioning, Necessities, Disadvantages
- Targeted PDS
- Diverse Cropping Patterns
- Irrigation Types
- Produce Transportation and Marketing, Concerns, Technological Integration
- Definitive Land Title Registration
- Biotech-KISAN Initiative
Land Reforms
- Land ownership patterns under the British rule
- Zamindari System (Permanent settlement of Bengal)
- Ryotwari System
- Mahalwari System
- Land reforms since independence
- Objectives of land reforms in India
- Progress of Land Reforms in India
Important Schemes
- Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana
- PM-Kisan Scheme
- Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)
- Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)
- Rythu Bandhu Scheme
Agricultural Credit Institutions
- Commercial Bank
- Lead Bank Scheme
- Multi Agency Approach
- Regional Rural Banks
- National Bank for Agriculture Rural Development (NABARD)
- Kisan Credit Card Scheme
- Self Help Group (SHG) Programme
- Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF)
Crop Insurance in India
- Historical Background
- Issues Related to Crop Insurance
- Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
- Comparison with Earlier Crop Insurance Schemes
- Challenges
Subsidies
- Subsidy in India
- Farm Subsidies
- Fertiliser subsidies
- Subsidy on power
- Subsidy on irrigation
- Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices
- Objectives of subsidies
- Issues of buffer stocks and food security
- Technology missions
- Economics of animal-rearing
- Public Distribution System: Objectives, Functioning, Limitations, Revamping
- Evolution from universal PDS to targeted PDS
- Buffer Stock policy and government’s intervention in food market to keep prices under reasonable limits to help consumers
- Food Security Bill
- Questions of resource mobilization for the FSB
Agriculture Revolution in India
- Green Revolution
- White Revolution
- Yellow Revolution
- Blue Revolution
- Golden Fibre Revolution
Food Processing and Associated Industries
Extent and Importance
- Geographical Distribution
- Processed Food Landscape in Various Sectors
- Government Actions and Measures
- Progress in Building Food Processing Infrastructure
- Challenges within the Food Processing Domain
- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Regulations in Food Processing
- Prominent Patterns in the Indian Food Processing Scene
- Tactics Implemented through Budgetary Planning
- Fresh Foreign and Domestic Investments
Industrial Sector
Industrial Policy and Advancement of Industry
- Central Concerns
- The Mahalanobis Approach and India's Industrial Policy
- Analyzing the 1948 and 1956 Industrial Policy Resolutions from a Critical Perspective
- The New Economic Policy and Industrial Strategies Amidst Liberalization
- Private Sector Involvement
- Integration into the Global Market
- Stages of Industrial Progress
Key Aspects of Industrial Advancement in India
- Roles of Private and Public Sectors
- Investment in Industry
- Strategies for Disinvestment and Privatization
- Role of Small, Medium and Micro enterprises
- Effects of Globalization
- New Manufacturing Policy
- Industrial disbursal and Industrial corridors
- SEZs - Main issues like land use, relocation of same industries that exist, exports earnings vs loss of tax income
- Industrial sickness
- Institutional mechanism to support the sick industries, exit policy issues
- Main constraints in the industrial development of India
- Effects of globalization on industries
- Sub-prime crisis and sovereign debt
- Transformation of MSME sector and impact on India
Infrastructure in India
Effects of Infrastructure
- Economic Ramifications
- Influence on Social Progress
- Environmental Consequences
Transportation Networks
- Ports and Their Impact
- Maritime Trade Routes
- Inland Waterway Systems
- Key Regions of Inland Waterways
- Road Networks and Their Importance
- Government Initiatives for Road Infrastructure
- National Infrastructure Pipeline
- Bharatmala Pariyojana
- Airports and Their Significance
- Air Routes and Factors Affecting Air Transport
- Railways and Factors Shaping Railroad Development
- Global Distribution of Railway Networks
Energy Pipeline System
- Transporting Energy via Pipelines
- Crude Oil Pipelines
- Natural Gas Pipelines
Significance and Evolution of Transportation Networks
- Modes of Transportation
- Operational Costs in Transportation
- Government's Transport Policies
- Global Transportation Trends
- Transportation Costs and Specialization
- Transportation's Role in Contemporary Trade
- Transportation Costs and Economies of Scale
- Reduced Transportation Costs
- Detrimental Effects of Transportation
- Infrastructure as Investment Opportunities
- Public-Private Partnerships and Associated Matters
- Maintenance and Operation of Roads, Railways, Irrigation, and Power Projects – Principal Issues and Resolutions
Important Schemes
- PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan
- Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA) Scheme
- National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) to fund infrastructure projects in India
- National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP)
