Concept:
- All four options describe economic changes, but each answers a different question: who owns, how much industry, or how open the economy is.
- Sorting the options by the question each one answers isolates the right term.
Step 1: Sort the options by what each is about.
Nationalisation and privatisation are both about
ownership, one moving firms to the government and the other to private hands. Industrialisation is about the
growth of industry. Liberalisation is about
how open the economy is to the outside world.
Step 2: Read what the question is actually about.
It speaks of removing barriers on foreign trade and investment, which concerns the openness of the economy and not ownership or the number of factories.
Only one option belongs to that group.
Step 3: Confirm with what changed in India.
From 1991 onwards barriers on foreign trade and investment were largely removed. Imports and exports became easy, and foreign companies could set up offices and factories in the country.
Step 4: Note the reason behind the decision.
It was felt that competition would improve the performance of Indian producers, since they would now have to match the quality and price of goods from abroad.
Final Answer: (D) Liberalisation