How Britain drained $45 trillion from India and built its empire

Jan 17, 2026 | 19:33 IST

In "Era of India", the writer traces how British colonial rule systematically drained India’s wealth, drawing on Utsa Patnaik’s explosive estimates and Shashi Tharoor’s ambivalence on reparations, to confront a lingering question: should Britain pay for the economic devastation it inflicted?

When Dadabhoy Naoroji wrote his seminal book, ‘Poverty and Un-British Rule in India’ in 1867, he was unaware to what extent British rule had drained India of its wealth and its precise impact on Indian poverty. He knew though that the drain of wealth from India to Britain had impoverished India and enriched Britain.

Economic historians have used data to place a concrete number on the impact of the drain on the Indian economy during the 190-year-long British occupation of India.

TOI

TOI

How Britain drained $45 trillion from India and built its empire

In "Era of India", the writer traces how British colonial rule systematically drained India’s wealth, drawing on Utsa Patnaik’s explosive estimates and Shashi Tharoor’s ambivalence on reparations, to confront a lingering question: should Britain pay for the economic devastation it inflicted?

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TOI

How Britain drained $45 trillion from India and built its empire

In "Era of India", the writer traces how British colonial rule systematically drained India’s wealth, drawing on Utsa Patnaik’s explosive estimates and Shashi Tharoor’s ambivalence on reparations, to confront a lingering question: should Britain pay for the economic devastation it inflicted?

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