ThemajoreconomicliberalizationreformsinIndia, movingawayfromthe”Licence Raj,” were initiated in 1991 (2) by the government of P.V. Narasimha Rao, with Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister, in response to a balance of payments crisis. Rejecting Options: While some minor reforms occurred earlier, 1991 marks the beginning of the significant, sys temic shift.