What do you understand by the term ‘de- industrialization ’? What was its Impact on the Indian Economy?

Commentators often talk of the long decline of industry in the British economy. In simple terms this is what we mean by de-industrialization - a fall in the contribution made by the manufacturing sector to national output, employment and income. We can consider manufacturing as a whole, or focus on individual industries such as steel and clothing and textiles

De-industrialization is a long-term process of structural change in an economy – leading to a change in the composition of national output, and important alterations to the structure of our labour market.

There is a number of different ways of measuring the extent to which our manufacturing sector is experiencing de-industrialization:

Its impact on the Indian Economy

The economic condition of India in the 19th century started becoming worse due to several polices of the British government. The Indian manufacturing sector was sometimes sharply disrupted sue to the import of machine made foreign goods. While analyzing the economic impact of British rule and consequent poverty, Indian nationalists has quite convincingly argued that British rule has de-industrialized India. However, recent researches in modern economic history of India after independence has challenged this widely accepted hypothesis on many grounds. To reach at final analysis it is imperative to go through all major views of the scholars and sources of information of different parts of 19th century India.

Drain of wealth the systematic policy of ferrying the economic resources of India to Britain. The officials of the British I government were paid out of the Indian exchequer money went out of India. There was a heavy tax t on the Indian people because large sums had to b annually as interest on loans contracted by the Gove~ of India. It was first time in India’s history that the balance of trade t unfavorable towards India.

De-industrialization The British caused 1 Duos harm to the traditional handicraft industry decayed beyond recovery. Heavy customs dutiE imposed on Indian goods. The

British officials! Preference for European goods. This provided an. to the demand for

European goods and contribute decline of Indian handicrafts. The availability of n made goods in abundance at a comparatively low H greatly contributed to the decline of Indian handicri failure of the British Government to offer any protE indigenous industry also contributed to the de Indian handicrafts because they could not compt machine-made goods produced in bulk, and Consequently cheaper. With the subjugation of Indian princely 51 patronage to the handicraft industry ceased to exist.

Ruralisation Indian economy tended to more and more agricultural with the disintegration traditional industries. The increase in the number 01 in agriculture. Did not mean increase in agricultural, but impoverishment of the rural masses; then industrial alternative.

This accounted for the famines and increasing poverty in the 19th and quarter of the 20^th century. India merely became of raw material for industrial Britain.