The Hindu rate of growth is a derogatory term referring to the low annual growth rate of the planned economy of India before the liberalizations of 1991, which stagnated around 3.5% from 1950s to 1980s, while per capita income growth averaged 1.3%.
India’s economic performance during the first three decades since independence was christened the “Hindu” rate of growth, a term connoting a disappointing but not disastrous outcome The word "Hindu" in the term was used by some early economists to imply that the Hindu outlook of fatalism and contentedness was responsible for the slow growth. The later economists attribute the rate to the Government of India's protectionist and interventionist policies (see Licence Raj), rather than to a specific religion or to the attitude of the adherents of a particular religion.
That cliché, of course, is gradually lapsing into disuse thanks to the remarkable transformation in India during the last two decades. Since 1980, its economic growth rate has more than doubled, rising from 1.7 percent (in per-capita terms) in 1950-1980 to 3.8 percent in 1980-2000

Until 1991, India’s policy makers followed misguided policies that closed the economy to international trade, erected inefficient industries under state guidance, riddled the private sector with extraordinarily cumbersome and detailed regulations, and suffocated private economic activity with controls and bureaucratic impediments. Then in 1991, the big breakthrough happened. Spurred by a balance of payments crisis, Indian policy makers turned to technocrats such as Manmohan Singh, who promptly began the process of liberalizing the economy. Trade barriers were slashed, foreign investment was welcomed, the license raj was dismantled, and privatization began. The economy started to boom, with software exports and call centres leading the way.

Fiscal expansion can lead to rising