Question

Indicate the volume and direction of trade at the time of independence.

Answer 1

At the time of independence, India was a major exporter of raw material such as raw silk, cotton, wool, sugar, indigo, jute, etc. At that time, India used to import finished consumer goods such as cotton, silk and light machinery from factories of Britain. More than half of India's foreign trade was restricted to Britain while the rest was targeted to countries like China, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Persia (Iran).