India's industrial policy framework began to be liberalized from the late 1970s, and
this process accelerated with the major economic reforms initiated in the year 1991.Industrial
deregulation and liberalization have opened up opportunities for growth, but at the same time
have raised many apprehensions. How has Indian manufacturing performed during this period
of policy changes? What are some of the key features of its development? We examine these
questions in this chapter. A major part of this chapter is based on an analysis of data from
Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) for the period from 1979-80 to 1997-98. The period under
study- the period from the late 1970s or early 1980s – was one of a revival of growth of
Indian manufacturing according to several earlier studies (see Raj, 1984; Nagaraj, 1990;
Ahluwalia, 1991; Sandes ara, 1992 on this).