India Unlimited: Reclaiming the Lost Glory

by Arvind Panagariya

India used to contribute approximately a quarter of the world's GDP until 1700 CE. As recently as 1820, this share was a hefty 16 per cent. But the Industrial Revolution shifted the centre of gravity of the global economy towards the West. The pernicious, indeed exploitative, policies of the British added to this shift by greatly impoverishing India. India's own policies during the first four decades following Independence denied it a rapid return to prosperity. But now that it has left those policies behind, opened up its economy and created a large GDP base, India can aspire to return to the prominent position it enjoyed in the global economy for so long. In The New India: A Reformer's Guide, one of the country's foremost economists, Arvind Panagariya, sets out a detailed pathway for India to regain its lost glory.

Genres: Economics, India, Nonfiction

371 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Srinivas Nidugondi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book that gives a perspective on the Indian economy - it’s past policies and what ails the country. The author does a fantastic job of pointing the issues and paint a relative picture with successful economies who were, till recently, in the same boat as India and gives prescriptions. While he could be faulted for going into too much a specific prescription but the other way to look at it is with his understanding he has tried to come out with real solutions and not talk in the air.
A wonderful and fast read for anyone interested in the Indian economy

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[Aryan Prasad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very systematic coverages of reforms needed for a decade of (near) double digit growth in India, which according to author is the only way to end abject poverty in India. Being the Vice Chairperson of NITI Aayog the author brings in some unique insights on reforms and working of government (Like how newly recruited IAS officers all refused to attend lectures on Indian Economy by the author because no Non Veg was being served after lectures)

The book does not cover the political aspects of making the reforms actually happen. Also this particular edition is printed Black and White, while the graphs seems to be designed for Colour printing hence most of them are not readable.

[Viswanathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only hope for India to prosper,& sustain near double-digit growth, is to pull half or more of workforce in agri to productive labor-intensive light manufactures exports,is the central theme running in the book.He also rejects arguments that rising protectionism & automation bode ill for India to adopt East Asian approach.He says that distance is still far & India have to use this window of opportunity especially with the wage hikes making cheaper goods of China uncompetitive & the unfolding trade war causing investors to pull out in these sectors.India needs to increase its export slice from 1.7% to at least 4% in manufacturing & 3.5% to 5% in services for the next years to transform the way China did.

[Bahulya Rishi · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books on contemporary Indian economy, it's problems and solutions.


Dr. Panagariya starts with giving a brief history of Indian economy - from Nehru's Era, how it went wrong in Nehruvian Era (his kids era) and course correction in 1991 in face of BoP crisis.
With this history in mind, reader is taken to a pretty engrossing, factual and data driven read on the problems of Indian economy and the solutions for it (won't ruin the book by naming the problem/chapters). One surely comes out better in terms of knowing the hurdles and then assessing the policy responses of the governments in that context.
As the pandemic has aggravated the crisis of abject poverty and middle class has dwindled considering the income erosion, the solutions spelt out in this book becomes more important.

[Arpit Shrivastava · Rating 4 out of 5]

India Unlimited is a very neatly written book.
It touches on the various aspects needed for nation building and helps in developing a perspective about the needed reforms.
It provides a good bird’s eye view of the current need and areas of policy reforms to take India on a fast track growth mode.
The author presents his case with a well corroborated literature using numbers and narratives in a very tight and complimentary fashion.

[Vikash Anand]

Awesome

Awesome book to understand economic policy making and reforms needed for revival of growth and large scale employment in India,

[RUTURAJ SHEDGE · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a lucid explainantion of pre covid economy which surprisingly passes for post covid polotical-economic structure