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Synopsis Teaching of analytical public finance and federal finance, which two form the backbone of this book, is done at all levels from the intermediate to the master degree in economics, commerce, political science, etc. Both papers are incorporated in the topics on which questions are asked at all-India and all-state level competitive examinations. These fields are also popular subject-matters for research in the universities and research institutes. Besides, they remain areas of unceasing interest and debate to the general public as well as the policy-makers in Legislatures and Parliament, no less the administrators. The Development of India’s Financial System is meant for all these sections of people. As would appear from a glance at the contents and the index, no prior knowledge of either the principles of public finance or the theory and practice of federal finance, in the context of India or any other country, is required to read and use this book. All propositions and problems of these disciplines are explained and illustrated with requisite facts and data; in nature the data used are different from those used in historical studies. The information contained in this treatise is gleaned from internationally recognised sources listed in the bibliography and the tables. The work is addressed to (1) India’s federal finance from its groundwork and rudiments in all its ramifications; (2) The steepening conflict between the constantly multiplying needs of the governments, entailing ever-rising non-plan expenditures and hence fiscal deficits, on the one hand and the ever-increasing difficulty faced by them in raising resources, on the other; (3) Developmental finance during the Five- Year Plans, first to ninth, encompassing all its essentials and implications and (4) Policy reforms embarked upon in consonance with the 1991 restructuring of the Indian economy. In the process the entire corpus of the finances of the centre, the states and UTs, and all India during 1951-2000 comes into bold relief, both analytically and empirically. A singular feature of this book is inclusion of a chapter summarising ancient Indian thoughts and ideas concerning this branch of learning. The presentation is marked by a style displaying maturity of writing and bristling with the lucidity and simplicity of the language used by the author.