INDUSTRY IN INDIA
Sta,—In his article on "The Next Step in India," Wing Commander Grant-Ferris, M.P., writes: "The emphasis shifted from economics to politics, with the result that up to the outbreak of this war relatively little had been done to develop the country since inoo." The converse is the case ; this was the period of the greatest economic and industrial develop- ment ; in justice to Governments in India the facts should be briefly stated. Here are some of the main achievements: The establishment of an iron and steel industry, the lynch pin in the economic cycle, with the ancillary manufacture of tin plates, galvanised sheets, agricultural implements, railway material and fertilisers ; the establishment of cement and sugar factories, making India independent of imports, with a possible surplus for export ; an immense development of the textile industry ; India is substantially satisfying her requirements for cotton piecegoods and yarn, with under normal conditions an export trade ; an impressive expansion of irrigation. The Triple Project in the Punjab ranks amongst the boldest engineering enterprises in the world, not to speak of the great reservoirs in Madras, the Sarda Canals in the United Provinces, and the protective works which have broken the back- bone of famine in the arid districts of the Deccan. Crowning these achkVements, the Sukkur Barrage and canals, watering in Sind an area as large as the whole irrigated lands of Egypt. The Agricultural Depart- ments have evolved greatly improved strains of wheat, sugar cane, rice and cotton, strengthening the major industry, agriculture. Almost unnoticed finance has been revolutionised. The elasticity of the Note Issue ; the merging of the Presidency Banks in the Imperial Bank, and the establishment of The Federal Reserve Bank have so mobilised the capital resources of India that even before the war the funds for invest- ment were, if anything, in excess of the available field ; under war condi- tions India has discharged most of her overseas debt and accumulated large sterling balances. In many of these activities the Government has been the sole agency ; in all a willing helper. Politicians may have been talking; the Government and the industrialists acting.—Yours truly,
Previous page
