Case Study of the Development of an Emerging Country (Edexcel GCSE Geography B)

Location & Significance

Site and situation

• Located to the north of the equator

• Most of India is a peninsula with water on three sides

• It has a diverse landscape with mountains, deserts and plains

• India is located in Asia between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal

• It has borders with six countries - Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan, China and Bhutan 

Significance

• India is the seventh largest country in the world

• It is a rapidly developing nation

• Currently the fifth largest economy in the world (overtaking the UK in Sept 2022)

  • Predictions suggest it will be the second largest economy in the world by 2050

• Located between the Middle East and South East Asia it has access to both:

  • Customers

  • Labour

Political, Social, Cultural & Environmental Context

India's Political, Social, Cultural and Environmental Context

Key Economic Trends

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

• In 2021 GDP was US$3.176 trillion

• GDP per capita was US$2,256

• Since 1990 there has been a 500% increase in GDP

• Annual growth of the Indian economy is approximately 8.7%

Gross National Income (GNI)

• India has the seventh highest GNI in the world

• The GNI per capita was US$2,320 in 2022

Economic sectors

• The contribution of economic sectors to GDP has changed from being dominated by agriculture to being dominated by service activities

• Agricultural is remains the largest form of employment but is decreasing from 75% to just over 50% in 2010

  • By 2019 decreased to 43%

Trade 

• Imports and exports have both increased since 1990 by almost 20 times

  • Imports (2019) US$478 billion

  • Exports (2022) US$323billion

• Main exports:

  • Petroleum products, jewellery, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machinery, clothes

• Main imports

  • Petroleum, gold/silver, electronic goods, pearls and precious stones

• Imports mainly come from:

  • China, USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iraq

• Exports 

  • USA, UAE, China, Hong Kong and Singapore

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has rapidly increased since 1990

• In 2021 India's total FDI inflows were $45 billion

• Investments in the automobile industry, electrical machinery and textiles have increased significantly

• The main countries investing in India are:

  • Singapore (27%)

  • USA (18%)

  • Mauritius (16%)

  • Netherlands (8%)

• In 2022 Google announced a US$1 billion investment in Bharti Airtel an Indian telecommunications company

• In 2020 Facebook invested $5.7 billion in Reliance Bio an Indian telecommunications company

• India firms also invested in other countries $17.24 billion

• India is the second largest FDI contributor in the UK 

  • Mastek has invested £79 million to create 1600 jobs in the UK

  • TVS Motors have invested £100 million in Norton Motorcycle

The Role of Globalisation

• Globalisation has led to increasing investment by other countries in India (FDI)

Infrastructure

• Improvements in transport and communications infrastructure

  • India has 24 International Airports and 13 major ports (212 non-major)

  • India has the second largest telecommunications network in the world (telephone users) and internet users

Transnational Corporations (TNCs)

• Attracted to India due to a workforce which is:

  • Skilled, low cost 

  • Mainly English speaking

  • Well educated

Government policy 

• Since 1991 the government has taken less control over what industries produce - economic liberalisation

• They have reduced import tariffs to encourage imports

• Special Economic Zones have been set up to reduce taxes for TNCs

Aid

• India receives Official Development Assistance (ODA) which is multilateral aid

  • In 2017 India received US$4,240.34 million with more than 50% of being donated by Japan

  • Aid is focussed on poorest states in India such as Madhya Pradesh

•  In the past India was the recipient of large amounts of tied aid

  • A new policy announced in 2003 stated that they would no longer accept tied aid except from certain countries including UK, USA and Germany

• India is now a donor of aid as well as a recipient

Education

• In 2009 primary education became free

• In 2020 a National Education Policy was launched to improve equality and overall education

• Education gives the population more skills increasing their employability

Impacts

• Encourages the positive multiplier effect

• Improves trade links with other countries

• Increases investment in education/healthcare/infrastructure

Rapid Economic Growth & Demographic Change

• Rapid economic growth has led to significant change in the demographic characteristics of India

• Death rates and infant mortality rates have fallen

• Life expectancy has increased from 45 years in 1960 to 70 years in 2021

  • Diets have improved

  • Healthcare is more available and has improved

  • Water quality and access has improved

• Fertility rates are falling

  • Women are more educated

  • More women work

  • Greater access to contraception

  • Education about family planning

Urbanisation

• In 2021 about 34% of India's population live in urban areas

  • This amounts to 475 million people

• Urbanisation is increasing by approximately 2% a year

• Approximately 20 million people migrate from rural to urban areas each year in India

Regional differences

• There are stark regional differences in India

Table Showing Differences Between Delhi and Bihar

• Delhi has a much higher population density

• People move to Delhi for work (pull factor) from rural areas

• Bihar suffers recurring floods which hampers development (push factor)

• Many people from Bihar migrated to other areas reducing the working population in Bihar

• Poor infrastructure in Bihar makes it difficult to attract investment

Social Impacts of Economic Development

Positive impacts

• Equality between genders has improved as more women have:

  • Access to education and increased literacy rates - though still lower than males

  • Improved family planning and access to contraception

  • Increased work/career opportunities

• Health has improved in all age groups

• Average incomes have increased

Negative impacts

• Children in rural areas are more likely to work

• Migration of younger people leaves older population in rural areas

• Investment in rural areas is much lower

• Development of illegal settlements around cities

  • Lack clean water supply

  • Increased spread of disease

  • Poor quality housing

Environmental Impacts of Development

Air pollution - causes

• In 2019 21 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world were in India

• Air pollution levels are below the national standards in 132 cities caused by:

  • Increased car ownership - New Delhi has over 10 million vehicles

  • Fossil fuel power stations - increased burning of fuels due to increased energy demands

  • Factories - there are between 3-4,000 factories in New Delhi

  • Burning of stubble

  • Construction dust

  • Cooking fuel - over 100 million people rely on biomass for cooking

Effects

• It is estimated that life expectancy is on average 5 years lower due to air pollution

• In 2019 over 1.5 million people died due to air pollution

• Increased levels of asthma, lung diseases and cardiac problems

• Contributes greenhouse gases leading to global climate change

Water pollution - causes

• Only 30% of all sewage in India is treated

• The Indus and the Ganges are in the ten most polluted rivers in the world

  • Of the remaining rivers in India 33% are moderately or severely polluted

• The use of pesticides in agriculture is common with chemicals, such as DDT, which are banned in many countries, still being used in India

• Waste water from industry contains many toxic metals such as mercury, lead and arsenic which are found in both surface and groundwater

• Approximately 70% of surface water is unfit for human consumption

Effects

• Damaging to aquatic life 

• Increases in liver and kidney disease, gastric cancers and birth defects

• Decreases crop yields and quality

Land pollution - causes

• Increasing population leads to more waste

• There are more than 3,000 landfills across India

• Ghazipur is the largest in Delhi at 65 meters high

• An average of 2.01 billion tonnes of waste is generated each year

• About 90% of waste goes to landfill

Effects

• Increased methane emissions

• Leaching of toxins into ground and surface water

• Fires - in March 2022 Ghazipur caught fire increasing air pollution 

Geopolitical Influence

• India's geopolitical influence has increased over the last 40 years

• It has increasing influence in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

• It is a member of a number of international organisations including:

  • BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and Singapore)

  • G20 - intergovernmental forum which addresses issues related to the global economy

  • UN Security council

  • World Bank

• According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) India is responsible for 15% of global growth

Relationship with EU and USA

• India's relationship with the USA and the EU is increasing:

  • The EU is India's third largest trading partner

  • In 1994 EU-India Cooperation Agreement was signed

  • Imports and exports to the EU are balanced (exports €46.2bn, imports €41.9bn)

• India exports more (US$49.7bn) to the USA than they import from the USA (US$26.6bn)

Other political issues

• In 1947 the partitioning of India and Pakistan led to social unrest, one million deaths and the displacement of 15 million people

• There remain tensions between India and Pakistan

• It impacted on development and still affects trade with other countries such as China

Costs & Benefits of Changing International Relations

Costs and Benefits of Changing International Relations