Synopsis Economic debates in independent India have been wide-ranging, of the highest quality and intellectually exciting; there is no other country that can match India in this respect. This volume brings together the major economic debates that have taken place in the fifty years since India's independence and reflect the important phases in her economic development. The initial chapters, by Terence Byres, consider the genesis of institutions which made these debates debates possible, and examine the interaction between the academia and the state. The volume addresses general aspects of context, background and content that have not been covered in the treatment of individual debates hitherto. In the papers that follow, Prabhat Patnaik presents the Indian debate on planning, J. Mohan Rao and Servaas Storm examine distribution and growth in Indian Agriculture, Sudip Chaudhari analyses the debates on industrialization; and Jayati Ghosh views the ongoing liberalization process. Finally Rathin Roy looks at Indian fiscal policy, and N. Krishnaji at population Policy. This timely volume addresses those debates that have shaped India's economic policy and its growth pattern over the last five decades. It is also successful in capturing the political economy context which has influenced such debates.