The Budget that changed our lives

Manmohan Singh's  game-changing budget in 1991 ended the licence raj. A look at how have things changed in the last 27 years
1991 was the year when Dr Manmohan Singh opened up the economy by bringing some radical reforms
Quick facts

• 1991: External debt was pegged at 23% of GDP
• 2017: External debt stood at 20.2% of GDP in March 2017
• 1991: Fiscal deficit was at 8% of GDP
• 2016: Fiscal deficit was at 3.5% of GDP
• 1991: Foreign Exchange Reserves were Rs 2500 cr
• 2017: Foreign Exchange Reserves were Rs 26 lakh cr

1991: Only nationalised banks operated in the country
2017: There many more banks operating nationally. There are:
27: Public sector banks
26: Private sector banks
46: Foreign banks
56: Regional rural banks
1,574: Urban cooperative banks
93,913: Rural cooperative banks

With increase in money in the economy, the salaries went up manifold, especially in the private sector. Picture this:
Cabinet Secretary's salary
1991: Rs 30,000 per month
2017: Rs 250,000 per month

1991: There was only one television channel -Doordarshan, the public service broadcaster and covered 70 mn homes.
With opening up of the economy, the number of channels increased.  
2017: 882 channels; 183 mn TV sets
Foreign brands dominated the television sets market, with 80% share
LG, Samsung, Sony are the market leaders

Before 1991, Indian brands like Murphy radio, Dyanora, Beltek, Texla TV, GoldSpot, Thums Up were the market leaders.
Picture this: Post-liberalisation, the non-alcoholic beverage market in India is worth Rs 14,000 cr in 2016, up from just Rs 200 crore in 1991. Coco Cola and Pepsi are the market leaders

From having mere 0.5 mn telephone subscribers in 1991, India is currently the 2nd largest telecommunication market and has the 3rd highest number of internet users in the world.
In June 2017, the subscriber base stood at 1,210.84 mn; total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA and LTE) were 1,186.84 mn

1991: There were only four homegrown brands - Premier Automobiles, Hindustan Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra and Standard Motors
Post liberalisation, India allowed 51% FDI in auto manufacturing, which was raised to 100%, leading to introduction of brands like Honda, Hyundai, Toyota and others

1991: Air India & Indian Airlines were the only players and offered fixed prices on tickets
8.9 mn: No. of  air passengers annually
2017: 10+ airlines now operate in India offering dynamic pricing on air tickets
265+ mn: No. of  air passengers annually