Question

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

Answer 1

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.