Legacy of the Raj or what India was when the British left in 1947

India had 30crore (300mn) population, with an average longivity of 32 years (with between 17.5 to 19.0% infantile mortality)

There were just 360,000 income-tax payers in 1947

Only 15% of Indians were literate (literacy rate among women was 9%)

83% of Indians lived in villages, and 70% depended on agriculture... 28% were landless labours (this, as one would notice, has not changed much)

70% of cultivated land was owned by a handful of zamindars and money-lenders.

Only 3% of India's workforce (less than 9mn) was employed in manufacturing sector.

Jute and cotton industry accounted for 30% of the total industrial employment (and about 55% of value-added to manufacturing)

Indian farmers owned 0.9mn iron plough, and 31.3mn wooden plough.

Across the total population, even in 1950-51, there were just about 168,000 telephones.

Only 27% of cultivated land was irrigated.

In 1951, there were just 37,000 towns and villages (out of around 5,000 cities and 500,000 villages)