*India, Economy
Overview:
India's economy is a mixture of traditional village farming, modern
agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude
of support services. Faster economic growth in the 1980s permitted a
significant increase in real per capita private consumption. A large share
of the population, perhaps as much as 40%, remains too poor to afford an
adequate diet. Financial strains in 1990 and 1991 prompted government
austerity measures that slowed industrial growth but permitted India to meet
its international payment obligations without rescheduling its debt. Policy
reforms since 1991 have extended earlier economic liberalization and greatly
reduced government controls on production, trade, and investment.
National product:
GDP - exchange rate conversion - $240 billion (FY93 est.)
National product real growth rate:
4% (FY93 est.)
National product per capita:
$270 (FY93 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
11.9% (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues $39.2 billion; expenditures $41.06 billion, including capital
expenditures of $10.2 billion (FY92)
Exports:
$19.8 billion (f.o.b., FY93 est.)
commodities:
gems and jewelry, clothing, engineering goods, leather manufactures, cotton
yarn, and fabric
partners:
USSR 16.1%, US 14.7%, West Germany 7.8% (FY91)
Imports:
$25.5 billion (c.i.f., FY93 est.)
commodities:
crude oil and petroleum products, gems, fertilizer, chemicals, machinery
partners:
US 12.1%, West Germany 8.0%, Japan 7.5% (FY91)
External debt:
$73 billion (March 1992)
Industrial production:
growth rate 2.5% (FY93 est.); accounts for about 25% of GDP
Electricity:
82,000,000 kW capacity; 310,000 million kWh produced, 340 kWh per capita
(1992)
Industries:
textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment,
cement, mining, petroleum, machinery
Agriculture:
accounts for about 30% of GDP and employs 67% of labor force; principal
crops - rice, wheat, oilseeds, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes;
livestock - cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, poultry; fish catch of about 3
million metric tons ranks India among the world's top 10 fishing nations
Illicit drugs:
licit producer of opium poppy for the pharmaceutical trade, but some opium
is diverted to illicit international drug markets; major transit country for
illicit narcotics produced in neighboring countries; illicit producer of
hashish
*India, Economy
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $4.4 billion; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1980-89), $31.7 billion; OPEC
bilateral aid (1979-89), $315 million; USSR (1970-89), $11.6 billion;
Eastern Europe (1970-89), $105 million
Currency:
1 Indian rupee (Re) = 100 paise
Exchange rates:
Indian rupees (Rs) per US$1 - 26.156 (January 1993), 25.918 (1992), 22.742
(1991), 17.504 (1990), 16.226 (1989), 13.917 (1988)
Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March
*India, Communications
Railroads:
61,850 km total (1986); 33,553 km 1.676-meter broad gauge, 24,051 km
1.000-meter gauge, 4,246 km narrow gauge (0.762 meter and 0.610 meter);
12,617 km is double track; 6,500 km is electrified
Highways:
1,970,000 km total (1989); 960,000 km surfaced and 1,010,000 km gravel,
crushed stone, or earth
Inland waterways:
16,180 km; 3,631 km navigable by large vessels
Pipelines:
crude oil 3,497 km; petroleum products 1,703 km; natural gas 902 km (1989)
Ports:
Bombay, Calcutta, Cochin, Kandla, Madras, New Mangalore, Port Blair (Andaman
Islands)
Merchant marine:
306 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,278,672 GRT/10,446,073 DWT;
includes 1 short-sea passenger, 6 passenger-cargo, 87 cargo, 1
roll-on/roll-off, 8 container, 63 oil tanker, 10 chemical tanker, 8
combination ore/oil, 114 bulk, 2 combination bulk, 6 liquefied gas
Airports:
total:
336
usable:
285
with permanent-surface runways:
205
with runways over 3,659 m:
2
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
58
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
90
Telecommunications:
domestic telephone system is poor providing only one telephone for about 200
persons on average; long distance telephoning has been improved by a
domestic satellite system which also carries TV; international service is
provided by 3 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth stations and by submarine cables
to Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates; broadcast stations - 96 AM, 4 FM,
274 TV (government controlled)
*India, Defense Forces
Branches:
Army, Navy, Air Force, Security or Paramilitary Forces (including Border
Security Force, Assam Rifles, and Coast Guard)
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 242,866,053; fit for military service 143,008,471; about
9,466,323 reach military age (17) annually (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $5.8 billion, 2.4% of GDP (FY93/94)
*Indian Ocean, Geography
Location:
body of water between Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica
Map references:
Southeast Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
73.6 million km2
comparative area:
slightly less than eight times the size of the US; third-largest ocean
(after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but larger than the Arctic
Ocean)
note:
includes Arabian Sea, Bass Straight, Bay of Bengal, Java Sea, Persian Gulf,
Red Sea, Straight of Malacca, Timor Sea, and other tributary water bodies
Coastline:
66,526 km
International disputes:
some maritime disputes (see littoral states)
Climate:
northeast monsoon (December to April), southwest monsoon (June to October);
tropical cyclones occur during May/June and October/November in the north
Indian Ocean and January/February in the south Indian Ocean
Terrain:
surface dominated by counterclockwise gyre (broad, circular system of
currents) in the south Indian Ocean; unique reversal of surface currents in
the north Indian Ocean, low atmospheric pressure over southwest Asia from
hot, rising, summer air results in the southwest monsoon and
southwest-to-northeast winds and currents, while high pressure over northern
Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the northeast monsoon and
northeast-to-southwest winds and currents; ocean floor is dominated by the
Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge and subdivided by the Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge,
Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and Ninety East Ridge; maximum depth is 7,258
meters in the Java Trench
Natural resources:
oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and gravel aggregates, placer
deposits, polymetallic nodules
Environment:
endangered marine species include the dugong, seals, turtles, and whales;
oil pollution in the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea
Note:
major chokepoints include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, Strait of
Malacca, southern access to the Suez Canal, and the Lombok Strait; ships
subject to superstructure icing in extreme south near Antarctica from May to
October