Indian Economy on the Eve of Independence — Part 2: Trade, People and Infrastructure: visual lesson, CBSE Class 12 Economics

Lesson

Trade, People and Infrastructure in 1947

Part 2 — foreign trade, population, occupations and infrastructure, then the overall picture.

In this lesson you will

Describe the composition and direction of foreign trade and explain the drain of the export surplus
Describe the demographic condition, including the significance of 1921
Interpret the occupational structure and its regional variation
Appraise colonial infrastructure in a balanced way

Part 2 at a glance

Concept

India became an exporter of primary products and an importer of finished goods.

Table of the composition of colonial India's trade: exports were mainly primary products such as raw cotton, silk, wool, jute, indigo and sugar; imports were mainly finished cloth, light machinery and iron goods
India exported (mainly)	India imported (mainly)
Raw cotton, raw silk, wool	Cotton, silk and woollen cloth
Jute, indigo, sugar	Light machinery and iron goods

Diagram

Direction of trade

Britain kept a monopoly: more than half of India's trade was with Britain.