The Forum of Free Enterprise is a non-political organization founded in 1956 by A. D. Shroff, and has been established to educate public opinion in India on free enterprise and a democratic way of life. The Forum publishes booklets to further its objects. The following booklet is titled “Organized Crime and Economic Development in India” was published on February 20, 2000, and was authored by Dr. Ajit Kumar Sinha. This booklet is a textual representation of the Presidential address delivered by the author at the 82nd Annual Conference of the I.E.A. held in Amritsar from 27th to 29th December 1999. The author talks about the emergence of a market-friendly approach to development and states that markets can only be developed under effective property rights and lawfulness in the system with protection of life and property from criminal acts. The author discusses Crime Syndicates, Economic reforms in India. Further, the author elucidates Crime Syndicates in India and explains the vicious circle of crime and why it is the main obstacle in the way of economic development. The author explains the ground realities concerning the crimes in India. The author concludes with the view that organized crime is an obstacle in market mechanism and investment which lead to low productivity, and states “It is time to evaluate the political economy of development with more pragmatic considerations to identify the measures to break the vicious circles of crime as a precondition of development”.