Lifelines of National Economy
International trade and tourism
Explain the balance of trade and the role of tourism in India's trade.
What is trade? Exchanging goods between people, states or countries. The market is where it happens. Local trade happens in villages, towns and cities; state-level trade between states; trade between two countries is international trade, by sea, air or land. How well a country's international trade is doing shows how well its economy is doing, so it is called the country's economic barometer.
Why every country trades. Resources are tied to places: no country has everything. So no country can survive without international trade. Trade has two parts: exports (what we sell abroad) and imports (what we buy from abroad).
Balance of trade. The difference between exports and imports.
- Exports more than imports: a favourable balance.
- Imports more than exports: an unfavourable balance.
Example: a country sells goods worth eighty crore rupees and buys goods worth a hundred crore. It has bought more than it sold, so its balance of trade is unfavourable.
What India sells and buys.
- Exports: gems and jewellery, chemicals, farm products. India is also a software giant, earning a lot of foreign exchange from IT.
- Imports: crude oil and petroleum products, gems and jewellery, chemicals, base metals, electronic items, machinery, and some farm products.
India trades with all the major trading blocs and every region of the world.
Tourism is trade too. Tourism has grown a lot in the last twenty years. It:
- brings foreign exchange and jobs;
- supports local handicrafts and culture;
- builds national integration and helps the world understand our culture.
Foreign tourists come for heritage, eco, adventure, cultural, medical and business tourism. Government schemes: Swadesh Darshan 2.0, the Vibrant Village Programme, PRASHAD (for pilgrimage sites) and Paryatan Mitra.
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