India at the end of the twentieth century was a poor economy, though one with a substantial industrial base. In contrast to both Korea and Brazil, India got off to a slow start, developing mainly in the second half of the century. Even then, however, the pace of growth had been relatively slow, picking up speed only toward the end. The state's role in producing this mixed economic outcome is analyzed in the next two chapters. It is proposed in Chapter 6 that the laissez-faire colonial state was partly responsible for India's sluggish economy in the first half of the century. By contrast, the modern, interventionist state that replaced it at midcentury provided a framework for modest economic growth and industrialization. This is analyzed in Chapter 7. A factor that contributed to the state's inefficacy was its fragmented-multiclass character, manifest especially in the considerable gap between the state's ambitions and capacities. A root cause of this state “softness” was the need of the leaders to maintain a stable and legitimate state within a diverse, relatively mobilized political society. State inefficacy, in turn, limited the impact of state interventions and hurt the rate of industrial growth. The origins of both this fragmented-multiclass state and the sluggish economy are analyzed first, followed by a discussion of how the state managed eventually to facilitate slow but steady industrialization.