ECONOMIC NATIONALISM- CAPITALIST INTEREST AND ROLE OF BUSINESS CLASS
The period from 1914 to 1947, 1945 and 1933 in particular, are considered important from the economic point of view in the history of India. Colonial economy was run by international exports. However, this pattern of colonial economy was reversed, as India started exporting, production of goods increased, while reducing imports. Till the end of World War One, for various reasons, the number of registered industrial enterprises had been steadily rising, as the developments in the interwar period strengthened their position. There were various factors that facilitated the Indian industrial development like the rowing tendencies towards import substitution, internal trade, shifting attention towards domestic markets and so on.
Since the late 19th century, the Indian capitalist class, more specifically the industrial bourgeoisie was becoming more matured and influential in politics. The earlier generations of Indian businessmen were too dependent on the foreign capital and were hence ready to accept the domination of the colonial state with all its discrimination. However, the newer generations of industrialists, coming from an expanded social base, were more matured and less prepared to surrender their rights. They began to organize themselves into Bengal National Chamber of Commerce (1887) and Indian Merchant’s Chamber in Bombay (1907).
Among the various groups that participated in the national movement, there were several individual capitalists who joined the Congress. They fully identified with the movement, went to jails and accepted the hardships that were the lot of Congressmen in the colonial period. The names of Jamnalal Bajaj, Vadilal Lallubhai Mehta, Samuel Aaron, Lala Shankar Lal, and others are well known in this regard. There were other individual capitalists who did not join the