In 1947 India had a population of nearly 300 million. The currency in circulation had risen from Rs.172 crores in 1939 to over Rs.1200 crores in 1945 (to place things in perspective by end of July the money in circulation was about Rs.40 lakh crores).
In the first budget after Independence, the government of India budgeted for a revenue of Rs.171.5 crores and a revenue expenditure of Rs.197.39 crores. The net deficit on revenue account was Rs.26.24 crores.
By the way, Customs receipts were estimated at Rs.50.5 crores, while income tax was expected to yield Rs.66 crores.
Of the budgeted expenditure of Rs.197.39 crores, Rs.92.74 crores was for Defence services
The public debt of India at the start of 1947 was Rs.2531 crores of which unproductive debt was Rs.864 crores
From April to Septembe 1947, India imported 10.62 tons of foodgrains costing Rs.42 crores.
India was expected to produce nearly 800,000 tonnes of Steel in that financial year.
A good starting point would be consider the various aspects of India’s growth (as well as costs) from a budget that had an expenditure of less than Rs.200 crores to the most recent one that had an expenditure of Rs.10 lakh crores.
By the way USA was no different:
In 1909, the US federal government had an annual budget of $US 0.8 Billion. With this it governed a population of just over 90 million people. The cost of government was about $9 per capita.
In 2009, the US federal government has an annual budget of $US 3,550 Billion. With this it governs a population of just over 300 million people. That’s a cost of about $11,675 per capita.
Is the US 1200 times better off?
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