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But this could hardly help farmers in their home country — Britain. In the improving their economic condition unfolding economic scenario, the as, instead of producing food crops, decline of the indigenous handicraft now they were producing cash crops industries created not only massive which were to be ultimately used by unemployment in India but also a new British industries back home. Despite demand in the Indian consumer some progress made in irrigation, market, which was now deprived of the India’s agriculture was starved of supply of locally made goods. This investment in terracing, flood-control, demand was profitably met by the drainage and desalinisation of soil. increasing imports of cheap While a small section of farmers manufactured goods from Britain. changed their cropping pattern from During the second half of the food crops to commercial crops, a large nineteenth century, modern industry section of tenants, small farmers and began to take root in India but its sharecroppers neither had resources progress remained very slow. and technology nor had incentive to Initially, this development was invest in agriculure. confined to the setting up of cotton and jute textile mills. The cotton 1.4 INDUSTRIAL SECTOR textile mills, mainly dominated by Indians, were located in the western As in the case of agriculture, so also parts of the country, namely, in manufacturing, India could not Maharashtra and Gujarat, while develop a sound industrial base under the jute mills dominated by the the colonial rule. Even as the country’sforeigners were mainly concentrated world famous handicraft industries in Bengal. Subsequently, the iron declined, no corresponding modern and steel industries began coming up industrial base was allowed to come in the beginning of the twentieth up to take pride of place so long century. The Tata Iron and Steel enjoyed by the former. The primary Company (TISCO) was incorporated motive of the colonial government in 1907. A few other industries in the behind this policy of systematically de-fields of sugar, cement, paper etc. industrialising India was two-fold. The came up after the Second World War. intention was, first, to reduce India to However, there was hardly any the status of a mere exporter of capital goods industry to help important raw materials for the promote further industrialisation in upcoming modern industries in India. Capital goods industry means Britain and, second, to turn India into industries which can produce machine a sprawling market for the finished tools which are, in turn, used for products of those industries so that producing articles for current their continued expansion could be consumption. The establishment of a ensured to the maximum advantage of few manufacturing units here and INDIAN ECONOMY ON THE EVE OF INDEPENDENCE 7 Reprint 2026-27