India: Economía y Política

Economic Overview

India is amongst the world's 10 largest economies. After growing strongly in 2010, in 2011 India experienced a periode of stagnation of growth and of high inflation (10%). In 2012, economic growth, estimated at 7.4% by the IMF, should be driven by vigorous domestic demand.

The government's goal to bring the budget deficit under 4.6% of the GDP in the fiscal year 2011-2012 will probably not be achieved but fiscal re-balancing reamins a priority. The government seeks to reorient domestic saving towards private investment. A series of reforms have been announced, including liberalizing the insurance sector and privatizing the aviation industry. Inflation remains low and the central bank will therefore decrease interest rates to stimulate growth. Large welfare programs for creating and supporting jobs in the rural areas in order to stimulate consumption will also be pursued.

India remains a poor country: the GDP per capita is low, almost 25% of the population still lives below the poverty line and the inequalities are very strong.

Main Sectors of Industry

India is the world's fourth agricultural power. Agriculture contributes to about 20% of the GNP and employs close to two-thirds of the active population. The main agricultural products are: wheat, millet, rice, corn, sugar cane, tea, potatoes and cotton.  India is also the second producer of cattle, third producer of sheep and fourth in fishing production. 

Coal is the country's main energy source (India is the third largest world producer of coal). In the manufacturing industry, textile plays a predominant role. In terms of size, the chemical industry is the second largest industrial sector (12% of the GNP).

The services sector is the most dynamic part of the Indian economy.  It contributes to more than half of its GDP, and it does not employ but a third of its active population.  The software sector, which grows rapidly, is boosting the export of services and modernizing the Indian economy.

Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.

Indicator of Economic Freedom

Score:

54.6/100

Position:

Mostly unfree

World Rank:

119/179

Regional Rank:

24/38

Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2011 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation

Note: The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.

Sources of General Economic Information

Ministries

Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Statistical Office

Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics

Central Bank

Reserve Bank of India

Stock Exchange

National Stock Exchange
Bombay Stock Exchange

Other Useful Resources

Official National Portal of India
Ministry of Corporate Affairs

Main Online Newspapers

The Times of India
Hindustan Times
Economic Times
The Hindu
Dainik Suprovat - Hindi
Cybernoon

Economic Portals

Business World
Business Line
Business Standard
Business Today

Political Outline

Type of State

India is a federal Republic state based on parliamentary democracy.

Executive Power

President is the chief of the state and is elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of the provinces for a five-year term.

Prime Minister is the head of the government and is chosen by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative elections, to serve a term of five years. The President, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, appoints the Cabinet.

Legislative Power

The legislature is bicameral. The Parliament consists of: Council of States and the People's Assembly. People of India enjoy considerable political rights.

Main Political Parties

India has a multi-party system with predominance of small regional parties.

The major political parties in the country are:

- Indian National Congress: a major political party involved in India's independence movement
- Bharatiya Janta Party: pro-Hindu, nationalist ideology,
- Communist Party of India: Marxism-Leninism,
- Bahujan Samajwadi Party: draws support from backward classes & religious minorities.

Current Political Leaders

President: Mrs. Pratiba Patil (since July 2007) - non-partisan
Prime Minister: Manmohan SINGH (since May 2004, reelected in May 2009) – INC, heading a coalition government with CPI(M) & other parties.

Next Election Dates

Presidential: July 2012

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

World Rank:

131/179

Evolution:

9 places down compared to 2010

Source: Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2011, Reporters Without Borders

Note: The world rankings, published annually, measures the violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position is assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire sent to partner organizations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and activists of human rights, including the main criteria - 44 in total - to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).