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persons for every 100 persons in the base population. This is referred to as
the annual growth rate.

• In reference to (fig.6.4 (b), pg.no.57), India’s population has been steadily
increasing from 361 million in 1951 to 1210.6 million in 2011.

• But in reference to (fig.6.4(a), pg.no.57), since 1981, however, the rate of growth
started declining gradually. The declining trend of the growth rate is indeed a
positive indicator of the efforts of birth control during this period.

• Since 1981, however, the rate of growth started declining gradually as birth rates
declined rapidly. But still India has a very large population because when a low
annual rate is applied to a very large population, it yields a large absolute increase.

• At this growth rate, India may overtake China in 2045 to become the most
populous country in the world. India’s annual increase in population is large enough
to neutralise efforts to conserve the resource endowment and environment.