Fiscal Policy in India

The Fiscal policy of the British Government of India has always been a subject of great importance to both the government and the people. The public sentiment on the subject became more intensified along with the growth of the spirit of nationalism, during the first quarter of the present century. But an adequate understanding of the subject is not possible without a real grasp of the theoretical aspect of the question, for which purpose facts have to be interpreted. The present work, by an authority, covers the period from 1765 to 1922 and best serves the aforementioned purpose. The work aims at presenting different sides of every question in a fair and impartial manner. It deals in appropriate proportions, with the three well defined periods into which modern Indian fiscal History is devided, viz. (i) the period of the East India Company’s rule, (ii) the period which commences with the transfer of the power from the hands of the Company to the British Crown and ends in 1914, and (iii) the third period starting with the First World War and ending in 1922. Each of the periods has, again, been devided into subperiods, in view of their special characteristics. Theoretic bases of free trade and protection, tariff policy and Imperial preference are some of the topics treated in different chapters. All questions related to the fiscal policy of the British Government of India have been approached from the economic as well as the political standpoints. The work is based on authentic records like Parliamentary papers, Bluebooks of the Government, etc.