This paper attempts to identify and examine labor intensive industries in the organized
manufacturing sector in India in order to understand their employment generation potential.
Using the data from the Annual Survey of Industries (Government of India, various issues),
the labor intensity for 97 industries at the 4-digit disaggregate level was computed for the
period 1990-91 to 2003-04. The study identifies 31 industries as ‘labor intensive industries’
within India’s organized manufacturing sector. The study finds that labor intensity has
declined not only for capital intensive industries but also for labor intensive industries during
the selected time period. The increase in output failed to generate enough employment
growth resulting in a significant decline in employment elasticity. The paper briefly
highlights the plausible factors that could have had an impact on labor intensity as well as on
the performance of the organized manufacturing sector over the study period.