Indian Economy
India is located in the southern part of Asia and is also south of the
Himalayan
Mountains. This southern peninsula has the largest mineral deposits
and the
largest cultivable land in the continent. The population of India is
critically
large and although nearly all people are Hindu, some are of other
religious
denominations. The life of the Indian people is usually ruled by
their caste
system, but the system is not as firm as it was years ago. India
has a mixed
economy. The different elements of India, such as location,
resources, and
religious beliefs, mold the outcome of their economy. In the
area that India is
geographically located, the climate varies from tropical
to extreme frigid
temperatures. In the area closest to the mountains extreme
temperature should be
expected. The northern plains have heavy snowfalls. The
northeastern part of
India has a cool monsoon season from early December
throughout February. A
monsoon is a wind system that produces wet or dry
seasons. If there are severe
droughts, famines can result from it. On the
other hand, too much rain can cause
malaria. Also, the contradictory
temperature of the northern days and nights
fortify pulmonary disorders. The
annual amount of precipitation along the
southern slopes of the Himalayas is
60 inches. There is also a hot/dry season
that begins in the middle of March
until the beginning of July. During this time
the Himalayan area has had
temperatures of about 120 F. Calcutta, which is a
city east the Himalayan
mountains, has an average daily temperature of 55 F to
80 F during the
month of January and 79 F to 89 F in July. The other areas of
India, the
southern and western parts usually have a tropical climate. They also
have
monsoons, but are referred to as the dry or wet seasons. These
monsoons
control the temperature, rainfall and humidity. The wet or rainy
season is from
June through September. Winds blow from the Indian Ocean
and the Arabian Sea.
The rain can be overwhelming and is typically 125
inches during this season. The
Cherrapunji in the Khasi Hills has a
yearly rainfall of about 425 inches. In
Bombay, which is located in the
west central part of India, have temperatures of
67° F to 83° F in
January and 77° F to 85° F in July. With the different
temperatures, natural
resources can flourish or degenerate. India has many large
cultivable
regions, and numerable timber access. India’s agriculture worth is
one-third
of the annual gross domestic product (GDP). The farms are usually
humble and
owned by families. The crops that are mostly cultivated for domestic
proposes
are rice, wheat, cotton, tea and jute, which is a plant that gives a
fiber
which can be made into sacking and cordage. India is responsible for a
large
amount of exports to the world. Sugar production a year during the
early
1990’s was 230 million metric tons. The annual production of tea
was 743,000
tons. Rice was 72.6 million tons and wheat was 56.8 millions
tons. Cotton was at
2.0 million and jute was at 1.4 million tons. Other
agricultural products that
are sold as exports are cashews, coffee, spices,
barley, chickpeas, bananas,
rubber, melons, vegetables, corn, sorghum,
linseed, millet and mangoes. The
timber in India is not varied, but is
resourceful. In the Himalayan region, the
cedar, pine, oak and magnolia trees
are abundant. In the slopes if the Western
Ghats, were there is heavy
rainfall which give a home to evergreens, bamboo,
teak, and other timber
trees. In the southeastern part, the mangrove and the sal
are very common.
These two trees are hardwood timber. Other resources include
fishing, mining,
and manufacturing. The fish, forestry mining and manufacturing,
that are of
economic significance contribute to the Gross Domestic Products.
Shrimps
and prawns, India oil sardines, ducks, croakers, Bombay, Indian
mackerel,
anchovies and marine catfish are the sea life that Indian people
consume.
Even though the fishing industry is underdeveloped when compared to
other
fishing industries, it is a vital tool for the people. In the Ganges delta
in
Bengal it most important. The government has encouraged deep-sea fishing
by
constructing processing plants and paying for fleets and vessels going to
the
ocean. 59% of the country’s 4.2 million annual catch in the early 1990’s
was
made of the marine species. 23% of the total land area in India of made
up of
forestlands. The regions bordering, the Himalayas are the largest
source for
commercial forestry. The annual timber harvest was 9.9 billion
cubic feet in the
early 1990’s.The mining industry thrives on Iron ore, coal,
mica, dolomite,
copper, bauxite, petroleum, natural gas, zinc, lead,
chromium, limestone,
phosphate rock, silver, and gold. India is among the
world leaders who produce
iron ore, coal, and bauxite. The other elements
mentioned above are also
produced significantly. The annual production during
the early 1990’s for iron
ore was 53.7 million metric tons, for coal it was
247.3 million, for bauxite it
was 5 million, for manganese 1.8 million, and
zinc 181,00. Three-fifths of the
annual production of petroleum (201.9
millions barrels) is for India’s
consumption. The products that India
manufacture are textiles, iron and steel,
machinery, processed agricultural
products, fertilizer, transportation
equipment, nonferrous metals, refined
petroleum, chemicals, and computer
software. Unfortunately employment in
these areas has declined. About 67% in
Agriculture, Forestry and fishing
and 20% of employment has gone down in
services, such as transportation and
communication. Transportation is composed
mostly of railroad lines. Its broad
network if railroad lines is the largest in
Asia and fourth in the world.
The total length of an operating railroad track is
about 38,811 miles long.
There are about 1.3 million miles of routes. All of the
railroad systems are
publicly controlled. There is 21,164 miles of national
highway. India also
has a comprehensive network of airlines, which connect to
cities and towns
all around India. Connections to the world are controlled by
airlines such
as: Air India, Indian Airlines and other air-transport airlines.
The
major ports are in the city of Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and
Vishakhapatnam.
Communications in India include mediums of the telephone,
radio and periodicals.
Their telephone system serves about 5.8 millions
telephones. The radio system is
owned by the government and is called "All
India Radio broadcast". It serves
about 68.5 millions radio sets. The
programs are held in 24 principal languages
and many other dialects. There
are 27.8 million television receivers. There are
two English daily
newspapers, the "Times of India" and the "India
Express". In total there
are 27.5 million, 3800 of them are daily. The life of
the people of India is
very interesting. India is second in the world with the
largest population.
It is estimated that 931,044,000 people live in India. The
population density
is 294 people per 762 square mile. 73% of these people live
in rural areas.
83% of the people are Hindu, 11% are Muslim, 2% are Christian,
another 2 %
are Sikhs, 0.7% are Buddhists and 0.5% are Jain. The Hindu people
see
themselves as the ones who follow the Vedas, or the way of the four
classes
and stages of life. Behavior is more important than individual
beliefs. Most
Hindus have a reverence for the Brahmans and cows, do not
eat meat, and are
married with in their own caste or jati. The Hindu religion
has many gods and is
one where each individual is free to worship many
different gods and have
different ritual for them. The social system may
sometimes interfere with
economic growth. The caste system is a religious and
social belief that each
person is born into a position, which they may not
advance or decline from. If a
person is born into an "untouchable" for
example, (the most undesirable
social position) they would try fulfilling
their life now and not strive to be
any better, in hope that in an other
life, they will be rewarded with a better
position. There is a massive amount
of livestock in India that is not used for
consumption. The belief is that a
person may return as any living creature and
to kill or consume these animals
is to kill oneself in another life, reducing
the ability to be promoted. Most
livestock is used for labor in rice and other
agricultural fields. All the
different elements together such as resources,
services, and social beliefs
bring the economy to a close. India has a mixed
economy. Most of the control
is through private owner-ships. India is dependent
on foreign goods such as,
manufactured goods, raw materials, and foodstuffs. In
the early 1990’s the
United States was India’s leading trading partner. The
US received 16% of
their imports from India also has good trading relations with
Japan,
Germany, Great Britain, United Arab Emirates, Belgium, Hong Kong,
and
Italy. The currency in India is called the Rupee. It is divided into
100 paisa.
In 1995 31.35 rupee was equal to one US dollar. India is a
country, which has a
diverse environment, large agriculture, and conflicting
social issues.