What was the rationale behind the licence-permit raj prior to 1991. Was it in sync with what was happening around the world?   There was a clear view after Independence, in India and elsewhere, and generally in the 1950s and ’60s, in the global post-colonial environment, that we had to break off the shackles of colonialism and increase our growth rate. In the 50 to 100 years before Independence, our per capita income growth rate was near-zero, and the savings-investment rate was around 10-12 per cent. To attain a higher growth rate, you had to increase savings and investment….