Which of the following was not the reason of draining of Indian wealth?

Expenses incurred on transfer payments done by British government

Transfer payments are those payments in which there is no exchange of goods and services. It basically involves distributing money to those who are in dire need of the same. From the start, Britishers were exploiting Indian people and economy for their own benefit. Thus, option 3 which states that transfer payments were the reason for the drain of wealth is wrong.

The most important characteristic of India’s foreign trade throughout the colonial period was the generation of a large export surplus. But this surplus came at a huge cost to the country’s economy. Several essential kerosene etc. — were scarcely available in the domestic market. Furthermore, this export surplus did not result in any flow of gold or silver into India. Rather, this was used to make payments for the expenses incurred by an office set up by the colonial government in Britain, expenses on war, again fought by the British government, and the import of invisible items, all of which led to the drain of Indian wealth.