Before independence India was a agrarian economy mainly dependent on the agriculture. Along with agriculture some manufacturing activity was also there in the India. India is a labour surplus country and also skilled labour was there in India.
Under the colonial rule British started taking advantage of skilled labour from India. British government work for their own interest and because of which British government made India supplier of raw material. As India is having a good quality of raw material British government started exporting raw material and importing finished goods. With this India economy has receive a low level of development under the colonial rule.