Prime Minister: Indira Gandhi
Partition, planning, aid consortia and nationalised banks.
Bank Rate
7%
+1 pts on 1972
Rupee per dollar
₹7.65
+0.8% on 1972
Inflation
16.94%
+10.5 pts on 1972
GDP growth
3.3%
+3.85 pts on 1972
Reserves
$1,629m
+19.1% on 1972
External debt
$10,966m
+9.3% on 1972
Crude oil · 16 October 1973
Arabian Light posted price: US$3.01 → 5.12 (1973-10-16) → 11.65 (1974-01-01)
India's import bill roughly tripled; WPI inflation above 30% y/y in 1974; the 1974 CDS/anti-inflation ordinances followed
ReportedOfficial record. Source: OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin; RBI Annual Report 1974-75
Crude oil · 16 October 1973
Arabian Light posted price ≈USD 3.01 → 5.12/bbl (+70%)
Embargo announced 1973-10-17. Detailed price series belongs in the ENERGY slice.
ReportedOfficial record. Source: OPEC / IEA historical postings
Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) 1973
Foreign equity in most Indian companies was capped at 40%. RBI gained broad control over foreign-exchange transactions. Coca-Cola (1977) and IBM (1978) later left India rather than dilute.
ReportedOfficial record. Source: FERA 1973 text (India Code); RBI history vol. 3
State takeover of wholesale wheat trade
ReportedPeer-reviewed. Source: RBI history vol. 3; Frankel (2005), India's Political Economy
Industrial Policy Statement (1973-02)
ReportedOfficial record. Source: GoI Industrial Policy Statement 1973
Middle East
Oil-price quadrupling (see FLASHPOINT and ENERGY): India's crude import bill roughly tripled across 1973-74→1974-75, WPI inflation spiked above 30% in 1974, and a Gulf remittance boom followed
ReportedOfficial record. Source: OPEC posted prices; RBI Annual Report 1974-75
Middle East
Oil price shock (see FLASHPOINT). India's oil-import bill jumped and it had to draw on the IMF oil facility in 1974-75. India was not an embargo target, but paid the higher prices.
ReportedOfficial record. Source: IMF Annual Report 1975
tankers
UnconfirmedOfficial record. Source: [M6] not found
| Creditor | Instrument | Amount | US$ m | Status | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No formal Paris Club agreement with India found; relief continued through the Consortium. Amounts for 1973-76 not found | reported | ||||
| United States (PL-480 rupee holdings) | Rupee settlement initialled 1973-12-13: about USD 2.2 bn equivalent returned or granted to India; US kept ~1.1 bn for its own use | 2,200 | settled Feb 1974; the "Rs 1,664 crore cheque" figure is not verified | verified | |
| Swiss public (lead manager not named) | ICICI Swiss franc public bond, ICICI's first foreign commercial borrowing | 8 CHF | repaid | verified | |
| USSR | Foodgrain loan in kind | 2,000,000 tonnes of grain | Shipped from 1973. Repayment terms for India not found. The comparable Bangladesh loan was repayable in kind over five years. | reported |
Rows are listed as recorded. Some describe the same loan from different sources and must not be added together.
