In contrast with the more open Indonesian economy, India had one of the most controlled economies outside the Communist bloc. This is no surprise considering that socialist ideology has been influential among India’s intelligentsia and policy makers over the past half century. India’s leftist leanings are pervasive, and even today the country seems unwilling to abandon its past dirigisme, which continues to block the necessary privatisation of its state enterprises.
After independence controls were imposed on prices, industrial investment, bank lending, the capital market, imports and even on some exports. The state retained ownership of several key industries, while a reservation scheme was introduced for small-scale enterprises. Domestic industry was heavily protected, competing imports were mostly banned, and the government restricted exports and foreign direct investment. Private monopolies were also restricted, which prompted many of India’s private companies to invest overseas, in both developing and developed countries. For their part, foreign multinationals have mostly been lured into joint ventures with India’s state-owned enterprises to service the large domestic market rather than export markets. As a result, in the first four decades of its independence India’s economy grew at an average annual rate of only 3 per cent.
The twist ending is that India introduced economic liberalisation measures more than 20 years later than Indonesia. Though they were implemented much later, these measures symbolised a decisive policy shift from statist nationalism to a liberal economic strategy. The outcome of that shift has been rapid economic growth and since the early 1990s India’s economy has grown at a pace second only to China.
The Indians still have much to do. With a population of over 1.2 billion, their main national mandate would be to lift some 600 million people out of poverty. And i think that should be their main priority, more so than comparing with other countries.
Reference: East Asia Forum
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Comparing India’s and Indonesia’s economic performance | East Asia Forum
Are you making indirect reference to social issues in their country? E.g, the poverty actualization , or are you making reference to infrastructural limitation ? Please be direct with me.