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One of the escape routes for the low-level development trap in the backward regions of India has been the formation of self-help groups (SHGs) and the provision of microfinance to the SHGs. This chapter analyzes the performance of such SHGs in some of the economically backward districts of West Bengal based on primary data collected from some sample drought-prone and non-drought-prone blocks of Paschim Medinipur and Bankura districts of West Bengal. The performance of sample SHGs in these drought-prone areas has been measured by (1) per-capita deposit, (2) per-capita credit, (3) credit-deposit ratio, and (4) repayment-credit ratio. An intra-regional difference in this performance has been observed in SHGs functioning in drought-prone and non-drought-prone blocks within the backward districts. Further, applying Probit model, it is observed that the SHG can climb easily upon the performance ladder with younger and educated members, greater percentage of members above the poverty level, better utilization of credit received, and so on.

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In recent years, the government of India has liberalized the FDI policy to promote economic growth. Since defense industry is highly capital—and technology—intensive and there is a scarcity of indigenous production capacity, the import dependence of India is likely to be high. Though the percentage share of FDI in defense to total FDI flow in India is remarkable, the increase in FDI share in defense is likely to enhance the dependence of the country on foreign sources at the expense of attainment of self-reliance in defense. It has been observed that the growth rate in imports on account of defense needs has increased relative to that in exports and export-import ratio has tended to decline in recent years, leading to the worsening of balance of payments. Thus, it is worth overhauling the role of FDI liberalization in promotion of the domestic manufacturing defense goods as what has been intended in this chapter.