What was the focus of the economic policies pursued by the colonial government in India? What were the impacts of these policies?

The economic policies developed by the British government in India were aimed at creating India as a supplier of Britain’s growing industries. The policies were targeted towards the development of Britain and boosting its economic status. India and its growth were completely ignored. Due to such policies, India became a supplier of raw materials and a market for finished goods from Britain. The impact of such a policy in India is as follows: 1. Indian economy witnessed very low economic growth. Studies reveal that the economy was growing at a speed of two percent during the periods 1900- 1950. The British government was more interested in maintaining and developing the economy of Britain. British rule ruined the agriculture sector and handicrafts and transformed India into a supplier of raw materials. 2. Indian agriculture system was not developed before independence, it was following old techniques and it was majorly affected by the colonial rule when the farmers were instructed to grow commercial crops instead of food grains. These commercial crops like cotton and indigo were used in industries in Britain for manufacturing textile. The peasants did not get any monetary benefit from growing these crops and hence no economic development happened. 3. The British have programmed systematic deindustrialization by leading to the downfall of the handicraft industry and with the lack of investment, other industries also failed to develop. Imposing heavy export tariffs on Indian-made goods led to a decrease in demand in the international market that ultimately led to the collapse of the handicraft industry. 4. The money that Indian goods earned from foreign trade was not invested in the Indian economy, it was used for managing the British army and expanding their colonial reach across Asia.

The focus of economic policies pursued by the colonial government in India was to make India an exporter of raw material for feeding the rapidly expanding modern industrial base and to target India as a market for its finished goods

The British policies had the following impacts on India:

(i) Agricultural sector had a lot of surplus labour and had extremely low productivity.

(ii) The industrial sector was backward and lacked diversification.

(iii) Poverty and unemployment were high.

(iv) Infrastructural facilities needed improvement.

(v) Foreign trade was beneficial for the Britishers