India Unbound – Gurcharan Das

Brief Description of the Book

India Unbound traces India’s economic journey from 1947 to the early 2000s, arguing that India’s growth was long constrained by over-regulation, state control, and distrust of markets, and that liberalisation unlocked entrepreneurial energies. Written as a mix of economic history, policy critique, and lived experience, the book is highly relevant for GS-3 (Indian Economy), GS-2 (Governance), GS-4 (Ethics of policy choices), and Essay, especially on reforms, state vs market, institutions, and middle-class aspirations.

The following extracts may be used in OPSC answer writing:

“The central puzzle of India’s economic history is why a rich civilisation became a poor country.”→ GS-3 Economy / Essay: Historical roots of underdevelopment, colonial legacy, policy choices

“India did not fail because it was too little capitalist, but because it was too much socialist.”→ GS-3 / Essay: State control vs market efficiency; critique of Licence–Permit Raj
(Use analytically; avoid ideological tone.)

“The Licence–Permit Raj throttled entrepreneurship.”→ GS-3 Economy / GS-2 Governance: Over-regulation, ease of doing business, administrative reform

“Economic reforms succeeded because they trusted ordinary Indians.”→ GS-3 / GS-2: Market reforms, citizen capability, decentralised economic decision-making

“The state tried to do too much and ended up doing too little well.”→ GS-2 Governance / Essay: State capacity, prioritisation, governance overload

“India’s growth story is a story of its middle class.”→ GS-3 Economy / Essay: Consumption, human capital, demographic dividend

“Entrepreneurs succeeded in spite of the system, not because of it.”→ GS-3 / GS-2: Informal sector resilience, regulatory bottlenecks

“Reform in India has been incremental, cautious, and often crisis-driven.”→ GS-3 / Essay: Gradualism in reforms, political economy of change

“Economic freedom is a necessary condition for political freedom to be meaningful.”→ GS-3 / GS-2 / Essay: Link between growth, opportunity, and democratic empowerment

“Markets are not perfect, but they are better than the alternatives we tried.”→ GS-3 Economy / Essay: Pragmatic reform approach; balanced view of markets and regulation

“India’s future depends on improving governance more than on discovering new ideas.”→ GS-2 Governance / GS-3: Implementation capacity, institutional reform

“The moral legitimacy of capitalism comes from lifting people out of poverty.”→ GS-4 Ethics / Essay: Ethics of growth, inclusive capitalism, poverty reduction