Q.India is a developing country - discuss.

India is treated as a developing economy, not a developed one: it shows the typical symptoms of underdevelopment — low per capita income, over-dependence on agriculture, mass poverty, high population growth, unemployment and modest human-development indicators — even though it is simultaneously industrialising and expanding its services sector rapidly.

This is a core 10-mark question in the AP Intermediate 2nd-year Economics syllabus (development economics), and it is answered by testing India against the standard features of a developing country.

Features that mark India as a developing country

1. Low per capita income. India's average income per person is far below that of developed nations, even though total national income is large. A low and unequally shared per capita income is the single most important sign of a developing economy.

2. Over-dependence on agriculture. Nearly half of India's workforce still depends on agriculture, while the sector's share in national income is much smaller. This imbalance — too many people earning too little from farming — is typical of a developing economy.

3. Mass poverty. A large section of the population lives below or near the poverty line, lacking adequate food, housing, clothing and basic services.

4. Rapid population growth. A high rate of population growth eats into the gains from economic growth and keeps per capita income low, raising the dependency burden.

5. Unemployment and underemployment. Open unemployment in towns and disguised/seasonal unemployment in villages are both widespread, meaning labour is not fully or productively used.

6. Low human-development indicators. Literacy, health, life expectancy and the Human Development Index, though improving, remain below developed-country levels.

7. Inequalities in income and wealth and sharp regional imbalances between advanced and backward states.

8. Technological backwardness and weak infrastructure in many sectors, alongside low capital formation.

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