3rd Semester, 2nd Year

Ayush Singh
Roll number 19
Economics - I

Socialism and Capitalism in the emerging Indian Economy

Introduction
India is a country which houses Mukesh Ambani the 2nd richest man in Asia, as well as the
one of the poorest populations in the world with almost 70% of its population being classified
as poor. This leaves the Indian policy makers in a precarious position where they have to take
care of the needs of the poor while also pay attention to the demands of the rich groups of the
nation, as they provide large number of jobs and investment in the nation, necessary to
eradicate poverty. The policy makers need to often strike a balance in the emphasis they give
to either side, and choose between making various socialist and capitalist measures. This can
be seen by the
This paper seeks to look into what kind of policies has the Indian political class adopted over
the years, and also look into which side are these policies oriented towards capitalist or
socialist? For example, socialist schemes for employment creation like MGNREGA are
employed by the government to generate employment in the country, and these people are
paid with the taxpayers money. On the other hand, various policy decisions like opening up
retail markets to Foreign Direct Investors (FDI) are often viewed to be taken to appease the
rich class, as classified as capitalist measures.
The researcher proposes to also study certain specific policies adopted by the political class
which garnered substantial attention of the public, including FDI and the changing focus from
agriculture to promoting IT services, and look into the implications for the various classes of
people, to get an idea of the true nature of these decisions. Also, the researcher shall try to
understand the effects of either sides of economic policy.

Research Question
1. What kind of policies has India adopted in the recent past socialist or capitalist?

2. What kind of policies are needed in emerging India?

3. What kind of policy is the emphasis on helping promote IT sector in India, and what
are its implications?

Hypothesis
The policy makers of India have tilted their policies towards socialism, but capitalist policies
are on the rise.

Methodology
The methodology adopted is doctrinal in nature.
Review of Literature
Various articles and papers talk about the true nature of Indias economic status as a socialist
or as a capitalist nation, with advocates from both sides. Globalisation and Indias Economic
Identity: An Overview talks about how Indian economy transformed radically post 1991, and
how its policies changed. Indian Informational Capitalism: Revisiting Environment and
Development Studies on the other hand talks about how the Information Technology surge
has changed the nature of emerging India, which it says is turning more capitalist. Why Nehru
was a capitalist challenges the contention that Nehru was a socialist and questions the nature
of policies adopted by India post-independence.
Bibliography
1. Globalisation and Indias Economic Identity : An Overview, Mainstream Weekly
2. Indian Informational Capitalism: Revisiting Environment and Development Studies,
Kavita Philip
3. Why Nehru was a Capitalist, The Economic Times
4. Collapsing Capitalism Emerging Socialism of the 21th century
5. Studying State & Capitalist Development, Solidarity