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Indian economy · Reference

When India's economic institutions were set up

From the Bombay Stock Exchange in 1875 to the Monetary Policy Committee in 2016: 37 banks, regulators, markets, planning bodies and international institutions, in order. Chronology questions pick four or five of these and ask for the sequence.

In this guide
Reference · about 10 minutes with the drill
  1. The timeline
  2. Families to remember together
  3. Chronology drill
  4. Check yourself
01
Reference

The timeline

Before 1947

  1. 1875
    Bombay Stock Exchange
    Asia's oldest stock exchange.
  2. 1921
    Imperial Bank of India27 January 1921
    Merger of the three Presidency banks; became SBI in 1955.
  3. 1935
    Reserve Bank of India1 April 1935
    Set up under the RBI Act, 1934; nationalised on 1 January 1949.
  4. 1944
    IMF and World Bank (Bretton Woods)July 1944
    India was a founding member of both.

Planning era, 1947–68

  1. 1948
    IFCIJuly 1948
    Industrial Finance Corporation of India: the first development finance institution.
  2. 1950
    Planning Commission15 March 1950
    Replaced by NITI Aayog on 1 January 2015.
  3. 1950
    National Sample Survey
    Household surveys behind the poverty and consumption data.
  4. 1951
    First Finance Commission
    Chaired by K. C. Neogy; award for 1952–57.
  5. 1951
    Central Statistical Organisation
    National accounts; now part of the National Statistics Office.
  6. 1952
    National Development Council6 August 1952
    Approved the Five Year Plans; Centre and states together.
  7. 1955
    State Bank of India1 July 1955
    Took over the Imperial Bank of India.
  8. 1955
    ICICI
    Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India; merged into ICICI Bank in 2002.
  9. 1956
    Life Insurance Corporation1 September 1956
    Nationalisation of life insurance.
  10. 1964
    Unit Trust of India1 February 1964
    India's first mutual fund.
  11. 1964
    IDBI1 July 1964
    Industrial Development Bank of India, the apex DFI.

Nationalisation & control, 1969–90

  1. 1969
    Nationalisation of 14 banks19 July 1969
    Banks with deposits above ₹50 crore. Six more followed on 15 April 1980.
  2. 1975
    Regional Rural Banks2 October 1975
    On the Narasimham Working Group's recommendation.
  3. 1982
    EXIM Bank1 January 1982
    Export-Import Bank of India; operations from March 1982.
  4. 1982
    NABARD12 July 1982
    Took over RBI's agricultural credit functions and ARDC's refinance.
  5. 1985
    SAARC8 December 1985
    South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
  6. 1988
    SEBI12 April 1988
    Statutory powers from the SEBI Act, 1992.
  7. 1988
    National Housing Bank9 July 1988
    Under the NHB Act, 1987.
  8. 1990
    SIDBI2 April 1990
    Small Industries Development Bank of India.

Reforms, 1991–2009

  1. 1992
    National Stock Exchange
    Incorporated 1992; trading began in 1994.
  2. 1995
    World Trade Organization1 January 1995
    Out of the Uruguay Round; India a founding member.
  3. 2000
    IRDAApril 2000
    Insurance regulator, under the IRDA Act, 1999.
  4. 2003
    PFRDAAugust 2003
    Pension regulator; statutory from 2014.
  5. 2003
    Competition Commission of IndiaOctober 2003
    Under the Competition Act, 2002.
  6. 2008
    NPCI
    National Payments Corporation of India: runs UPI, RuPay, IMPS.

2010 onwards

  1. 2014
    New Development Bank (BRICS)July 2014
    Agreed at the Fortaleza summit.
  2. 2015
    NITI Aayog1 January 2015
    Replaced the Planning Commission.
  3. 2015
    MUDRA8 April 2015
    Refinance for micro-enterprise loans.
  4. 2016
    Asian Infrastructure Investment BankJanuary 2016
    Began operations; India a founding member.
  5. 2016
    UPI launched11 April 2016
    Built by NPCI.
  6. 2016
    GST Council15 September 2016
    Union Finance Minister chairs; states are members.
  7. 2016
    Monetary Policy Committee29 September 2016
    First meeting on 3 October 2016.
  8. 2016
    IBBI1 October 2016
    Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.
02
Memory

Families to remember together

The DFI ladder

  1. IFCI1948
  2. ICICI1955
  3. IDBI1964
  4. EXIM, NABARD1982
  5. NHB1988
  6. SIDBI1990

Industry first, then exports and agriculture, then housing and small industry.

Regulators

  1. RBI1935
  2. SEBI1988 / 1992
  3. IRDA2000
  4. PFRDA2003
  5. CCI2003
  6. IBBI2016

One per market as each opened up: securities, insurance, pensions, competition, insolvency.

2016, the busy year

  1. UPIApril
  2. GST Council15 Sep
  3. MPC29 Sep
  4. IBBI1 Oct

Also the IBC and the RBI Act amendment for inflation targeting.

Anchor years

Hang everything on six years: 1935 (RBI), 1950 (Planning Commission), 1969 (bank nationalisation), 1982 (EXIM, NABARD), 1991 (reforms) and 2016 (MPC, IBBI, GST Council). Most sequence questions only need to know which side of an anchor an item falls.

Watch out for

The mistakes examiners are fishing for

  • SBI is 1955, not 1921. 1921 is the Imperial Bank of India, which SBI took over.
  • RBI was set up in 1935 and nationalised in 1949. The Act is 1934.
  • UTI (1964) came before bank nationalisation (1969). A common trap in sequence questions with PFRDA and IBC.
  • NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission on 1 January 2015, not the Finance Commission.
03
Interactive

Chronology drill

Chronology drill

Put these institutions in order

Tap the items in order, earliest first. Tap again to undo.

No sets tried yet
04
Practice

Check yourself

0 of 5 correct so far

Order and facts

1Earliest to latest: A. Nationalisation of 14 banks B. RBI established C. MGNREGA launched D. Second Five Year Plan E. SEBI established
2Earliest to latest: A. PFRDA set up B. UTI set up C. Nationalisation of 14 banks D. Implementation of IBC
3Which two institutions were both set up in 1982?
4The first development finance institution in India was:
5Order the events of 2016: A. IBBI set up B. GST Council constituted C. MPC constituted D. UPI launched
Try it on real questions

Ten past-paper questions on institutions and chronology

From UGC NET, CUET-PG, IIT JAM and the University of Hyderabad: order the events, match the institution to its year, and what replaced what.

✦These are questions from the TestStop bank. A free account answers 10 a day, each with its worked solution; All-Access opens every set with no daily limit.

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