This tract provides an overview of Indian economic development in the last four decades since Independence. It traces the evolution of development strategies since the 1930s, attempts to understand their rationale, their problems and contradictions. It begins with an evaluation of economic performance under planning and goes on to review the range of arguments that seek to explain the constraints on growth.

It argues against the rigidities and problems of the earlier system and stresses the need for strong corrective measures to restore the economy. While the tract is emphatic about the need for reforms, it questions the assumptions which underlie the present project of liberalization and reiterates the continued need for planning and state intervention within the framework of reforms.