Growth has for long remained a central topic in economic policy considerations of the government in India. However, there has also been a scholarly interest in it among social scientists. As a part of the latter tradition, this paper addresses the proper delineation of the phases of growth in India, a matter of some discussion in the literature. Using state-of-the art statistical methodology it first establishes the trajectory of growth and then provides a theoretical explanation for that history. With data spanning the period 1950- 2020, the procedure adopted is also able to assess the impact on economic growth of the policies of the present government. The results are conclusive. First, it is established that growth in India has accelerated continuously since the fifties, implying that dynamism in the economy did not have to wait for the liberalising reforms launched in 1991. Next, the performance of India's economy is compared to growth that has taken place in the rest of the world. It is seen that while India's economy has in recent years shown a dynamism relative to the rest of the world, it has consistently fallen behind its most dynamic regions, notably in East Asia.
Pulapre Balakrishnan,
