Title: Battles Half Won: Political Economy of India's Growth and Economic Policy Since Independence
Abstract: Abstract This article aims to review India's long-term growth experience with a view to understanding the determinants of growth and the underlying political economy. The article looks specifically at the political economy of India's growth transformation from a low-growth environment (pre-1980s) to a rapid growth environment (post-1980s) and asks how sustainable the new transformation is. Following the introduction, the second section looks at the evolution of India's growth, and the third section reviews this growth experience in terms of its affect on employment and poverty. The fourth section briefly reviews the policy framework underlying this growth. The fifth section takes a political approach to understanding the process and politics of policy making in India. This framework is then applied in the next section to explain India's growth transformation. In the seventh section, the article looks at inclusiveness, which is arguably at the heart of the sustainability of economic reforms and long-term growth. Finally, some concluding remarks are provided.