INDIA'S Journey to THIRD GDP Nation on VISION : Story Extract - 2 : The New Economic Policy (NEP) of 1991 - The LPG Reforms
The New Economic Policy (NEP) of 1991 - The LPG Reforms INTRODUCTION :- The year 1991 marked the most significant inflection point in India's economic history, a period of profound transformation initiated in response to a severe balance-of-payments crisis. Decades of fiscal mismanagement, characterized by excessive public spending and mounting subsidies, had led to a ballooning fiscal deficit. The government’s internal debt had soared from 35% of GDP in 1985-86 to 53% by 1990-91, and foreign exchange reserves had plummeted to a level that could cover only three weeks of imports. To avert a sovereign default, India pledged 67 tonnes of gold as collateral for emergency loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, who in turn imposed the condition that India liberalize and open up its economy. In response, from the government of India , Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh introduced the New Economic Policy (NEP ), a ...