Towards an Industrial State

Indian Produce were the buy word in the markets of the entire world.Skill of her craftsmen and excellence of her manufacturer were renowned throughout the ancient and medieval world.British annexed the Tamil territory as they did to the rest of India.Britain was turning India into an agrarian and raw materials appendage.With this political -economic background, the industrialization took place in Tamil Nadu.This happened in four phases.first,from the middle of the first half of 19th century to 1870, witnessed slow growth.The Second phase was marked by some quick growth from 1687 to 1900.The third major phase was the period of inter-war years,when the quick growth was coupled with the Indian capital and increasing tempo of nationalist movement.The final phase was the beginning of the Second World War till Independence when industry boomed to meet the war demands.From 1947 to 1954,Towards an industrial state happened due to Indian entrepreneurship combined with Government programmes along with a conscious policy to foster industrial growth.The stage was set for a rapid pace of industrial expansion in Tamil Nadu in the second half of the 20th Century.

S.Ananthakrishnan, Associate Professor and Head, Department of History, A.M.Jain College, Chennai, India. Educated in Chennai and specializes in Economic History of India and TamilNadu. History is passion and life for him.