This paper uses aggregate-level data, as well as casestudies, to trace out the evolution of some key structural features of the Indian economy, relating both to the agricultural and the informal industrial sector. These aggregate trends are used to infer: (a) the dominant relations of production under which the vast majority of the Indian working people labour, and (b) the predominant ways in which the surplus labour of the direct producers is appropriated by the dominant classes. This summary account is meant to inform and link up with ongoing attempts at radically restructuring Indian society. Part I, published this week, covers agriculture, while Part II, to be published next week, inquires into the "informal" industrial sector.
