Economy
With a GDP of more than US $ 482 billion(US $ 2.2 trillion in terms of Purchasing Power Parity), the Indian economy today is one of the few fastest growing economies of the world. The country ranks fourth in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) after the US, Japan, and China. The Indian economy is now well-diversified and has reaped the benefits of a decade of reforms which started in 1991. Industry is no longer a State monopoly. Almost all sectors have been opened up to the private sector. Import licensing has been abolished. Duties, which were as high as 400% on some items have been rationalized to internationally acceptable levels. Average import duties are now around 25%. Foreign investment has been liberalized such that inflows have increased from $200 million annually in the beginning of the decade to about US $ 5 billion. Foreign exchange reserves have climbed rapidly from near zero in 1991 to about US $ 100 billion in December 2003. India has maintained a healthy growth rate of over 5 per cent despite recession in major world economies over the past two years. This demonstrates the size, strength and resilience of the Indian economy. The external debt to GDP ratio of the country has improved significantly from 38.7 per cent in 1992 to around 22.3 percent in 2001. Among developing countries, India has one of the lowest external debt to GDP ratios. Were it not for the resilience of China and India, the world economy would have been in deep recession in 2002.
