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Because it was the preeminent sea power.
After World War 1 was won, Britain was able to achieve a gain in territory, most especially in the Middle East. Britain was also able to achieve its ability to dominate at sea.
The tea trade and production of tea played an important role in the British rule of India because since Tea was such an important commodity to Britain they needed to get it from either India or China. The tea trade, after all, was the main reason Britain began to rule over India to begin with. Britain no longer wanted to have to rely on China for their supply of tea. Britain began to look for alternatives to China. What they found was India. They were able to produce enough tea to be able to almost completely rely on India instead of China for their tea.
The spice trade. Research the Dutch East India Company and you will find a wealth of information as to why the Dutch were able to dominate the spice trade.
After years of owning India, Britain realized in was not feasible to keep India. It was costing money to defend a country that was not able to offer much in the form of resources.