Thiruvalluvar: The economic ideas of Thiruvalluvar are found in his immortal work, Thirukkural, a book of ethics. Even though scholars differ widely over the estimation of the period of Thiruvalluvar, it is generally believed that, he belongs to the Sangam age in Tamil Nadu around third century A.D. Thiruvalluvar's work is marked by pragmatic idealism. A large part of Valluvar's economic ideas are found in the second part of Thirukkural, the porutpal. It deals with wealth. Thiruvalluvar is a fundamental thinker. He believes that rains are the basic support of life. Since rain provides food, it forms the basis for stable economic life. Agriculture which is the most fundamental economic activity depends on rain, "It is rain that both ruins and aids the ruined to rise".
(i) Factors of Production: Thiruvalluvar has made many passing references about the factors of production viz., Land, Labour, Capital, Organisation, Time, Technology etc. He says, "Unfailing harvest, competent body of men, group of men, whose wealth knows no diminution, are the components of an economy". (KuraI61)
(ii) Agriculture: According to Thiruvalluvar, agriculture is the most fundamental economic activity. They are the axle-pin of the world, for on their prosperity revolves prosperity of other sectors of the economy, 'The ploughmen alone', he says "live as the freemen of the soil; the rest are mere slaves that follow on their toil" (Kural 1032). Valluvar believes that agriculture is superior to all other occupation.
(iii) Public Finance: Thiruvalluvar has elaborately explained Public Finance under the headings Public Revenue, Financial Administration and Public expenditure. He has stated these as
1) Creation of revenue,
2) Collection of revenue,
3) Management of revenue
4) Public expenditure
(iv) Public Expenditure: Valluvar has recommended a balanced budget. "It is not a great misfortune for a state if its revenues are limited, provided the expenditure is kept within bounds." He has given certain guidelines for a budgetary policy. "Budget for a surplus, if possible, balances the budget at other times, but never budget for a deficit." Valluvar advocates the following main items of public expenditure:
1) Defence
2) Public Works and
3) Social Services.
(v) External Assistance: Valluvar was against seeking external assistance. According to Kural No. 739, countries taking external assistance are not to be considered as countries at all. In other words, he advocated a self-sufficient economy.
(vi) Poverty and Begging: Valluvar consideres freedom from hunger as one of the fundamental freedoms that should be enjoyed by every citizen. According to him 'poverty' is the root cause of all other evils which would lead to ever-lasting sufferings. It is to be noted that the number of people living below poverty line, begging, sleeping on the road sides and rag picking in India has been increasing.
(vii) Wealth: Valluvar has regarded wealth as only a means and not an end. He said, "Acquire a great fortune by noble and honourable means." He condemned hoarding and described hoarded wealth as profitless richness. To him industry is real wealth and labour is the greatest resource.
(viii) Welfare State: Thiruvalluvar is for a welfare state. In a welfare state there will be no poverty illiteracy, disease and industry. The important elements of a welfare state are
1) perfect health of the people without disease
2) abundant wealth
3) good crop
4) prosperity and happiness and
5) full security for the people.

Salient features of Indian economy:
(1) India has a mixed economy:
Indian economy is a typical example of mixed economy. This means both private and public sectors co-exist and function smoothly. On one side, some of the fundamental and heavy industrial units are being operated under the public sector, while, due to the liberalization of the economy, the private sector has gained importance. This makes it a perfect model for public-private partnership.
(2) Agriculture plays the key role:
Agriculture being the maximum pursued occupation in India, it plays an important role in its economy as well. Around 60% of the people in India depend upon agriculture for their livelihood. In fact, about 17% of our GDP today is contributed by the agricultural sector. Green revolution, ever green revolution and inventions in bio technology have made agriculture self sufficient and also surplus production. The export of agricultural products such as fruits, vegetables, spices, vegetable oils, tobacco, animal skin, etc. also add to forex earning through international trading.
(3) An emerging market:
India has emerged as vibrant economy sustaining stable GDP growth rate. even in the midst of global downtrend. This has attracted significant foreign capital through FDI and Fll. India has a high potential for prospective growth. This also makes it an emerging market for the world.
(4) Emerging Economy:
Emerging as a top economic giant among the world economy, India bags the seventh position in terms of nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and third in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). As a result of rapid economic growth Indian economy has a place among the G20 countries.
(5) Fast Growing Economy:
India's economy is well known for high and sustained growth. It has emerged as the world's fastest growing economy in the year 2016-17 with the growth rate of 7.1% in GDP next to People's Republic of China.
(6) Fast growing Service Sector:
The service sector, contributes a lion's share of the GDP in India. There has been a high rise growth in the technical sectors like Information Technology, BPO etc. These sectors have contributed to the growth of the economy. These emerging service sectors have helped the country go global and helped in spreading its branches around the world.
(7) Large Domestic consumption:
With the faster growth rate in the economy the standard of living has improved a lot. This in turn has resulted in rapid increase in domestic consumption in the country. The standard of living has considerably improved and lifestyle has changed.
(8) Rapid growth of Urban area:
Urbanization is a key ingredient of the growth of any economy. There has been a rapid growth of urban areas in India after independence. Improved connectivity in transport and communication, education and health have speeded up the pace of urbanization.
(9) Stable macro economy:
The Indian economy has been projected and considered as one of the most stable economies of the world. The current year's Economic survey represents the Indian economy to be a "heaven of macroeconomic stability, resilience and optimism. According to the Economic Survey for the year 2014-15, 8%-plus GDP growth rate has been predicted, with actual growth turning out to be a little less (7.6%). This is a clear indication of a stable macroeconomic growth.
(10) Demographic dividend:
The human capital of India is young. This means that India is a pride owner of the maximum percentage of youth. The young population is not only motivated but skilled and trained enough to maximize the growth. Thus human capital plays a key role in maximizing the growth prospects in the country. Also, this has invited foreign investments to the country and outsourcing opportunities too.

 Scientific study of the characteristics of population is known as Demography. The various aspects of demographic trends in India are; 
i) Size of population.
ii) Rate of growth.
iii) Birth and death rate.
iv) Density of population.
v) Sex ratio.
vi) Life-expectancy at birth.
vii) Literacy ratio
i) Size of population:
In terms of size of population, India ranks 2nd in the world after China. India has only about  2.4% of the world geographical area and contributes less than 1.2% of world's income but accommodates about 17.5% of the world population. In other words, ever 6th person in the world is an Indian.  
1921 - Year of great divide.
1951 - Year of small divide.
1961 - Year of population explosion.
2001 - Population of India crossed one billion (100 crores) mark.
2011 - Census reveals growth of youth population which is describes as "Demographic Transition".
ii) Birth rate and death rate:
Birth rate was 39.9 in 1951, it fell to 21.8 in 2011. The death rate has declined from 27.4 in 1951 to 7.1 in Kerala has the lowest birth rate (14.7), Uttar Pradesh has the highest birth rate (29.5), West  Bengal lowest death rate (6.3) and Oddisha (9.2) has the highest.
The four states Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh called BIMARU  states have very high population.
iii) Density of population:
It refers to the average number of persons residing per square kilometre.
\(Density \ of \ population \ =\frac { Total \ population }{ Land \ area \ of \ the \ region } \)
Before independence, the density of population was less than 100. But after independence it has increased rapidly from 117 in 1951 to 325  in 2001. According to 2011 Census, Density of Population is 382. Bihar - 1,102 persons living per sq.km. West Bengal - 880 persons. Arunachal Pradesh has low density of population of only 17 persons.
iv) Sex ratio:
It refers to the number of females per 1000 males. In Kerala, the adult sex ratio is 1084 as in 2011. Haryana has the lowest sex ratio of  877 (2011) among other states. Kerala provides better status to woman as compared to other states with 1084 females per 1000 males.
v) Life expectancy at birth:
It refers to the mean expectation of life at birth. During 1901-11, life expectancy was just 23 years. It increased to 63.5 years in 2011. The life expectancy in India is very low compared to that of developed countries.  
vi) Literacy ratio:
It refers to the number of literates as a  percentage of the total population. 1951-14  of the males and 1/12 of the females were literates. In 2011, 82% of males and 65.5% of females were literates giving an overall literacy rate of 74.04% (2011).

(i) Size of population
In terms of, size of population. India ranks 2nd in the world after China. India has only about 2.4% of the world's geographical area and contributes less than 1.2% of the world's income, but accommodates about 17.5% of the world's population.
(ii) Birth and death rates
Crude Birth rate: It refers to the number of births per thousand of population.
Crude Death rate: It refers to the number of deaths per thousand of population Crude birth and death rates of India during various years
(iii) Density of population
It refers to the average number of persons residing per square kilometre. It represents the man-land ratio. As the total land area remains the same, an increase in population causes density of population to rise.
\(Density \ of \ population\quad =\frac { Total \ population }{ Land \ area \ of \ the \ region } \)
(v) Sex - Ratio
It refers to the number of females per 1,000 males. It is an important indicator to measure the extent of prevailing equity between males and females at a given point of time.
(vi) Life - expectancy at birth
It refers to the mean expectation of life at birth. Life expectancy has improved over the years. Life expectancy is low when death rate is high and/or instances of early death are high. On the other hand, life expectancy is high when death rate is low and/or instances of early death are low.
(vii) Literacy Ratio
 It refers to the number of literates as a percentage of the total population. In 1951, only one-fourth of the males and one-twelfth of the females were literates. Thus, on an average, only one-sixth of the people of the country were literates. In 2011, 82% of males and 65.5% of females were literates giving an overall literacy rate of 74.04% (2011).

(a) Large Population:
(i) India stands the second largest population in the world.
(ii) Population growth rate of India is very high.
(iii) The growth rate in India is as high as 1.7 per 1000.
(iv) The annual addition of population equals the total population of Australia.
(b) Inequality and Poverty:
(i) The proportion of income and assets owned by top 10% of Indian goes on increasing.
(ii) This has led to an increase in the poverty level in the society and still a higher percentage of individuals are living below poverty line.
(c) Increasing prices of essential goods:
(i) The constant growth in the GDP and growth opportunities in the Indian economy, there have been steady increase in the prices of essential goods.
(ii) The continuous rise in prices erodes the purchasing power.
(d) Weak of Infrastructure:
There is still scarcity of the basic infrastructure like power, transport storage etc.
(e) Inadequate employment generation:
(i) The growth in production is not accompanied by creation of job.
(ii) The Indian economy is characterised by 'joblers growth'.