This paper argues that internal contradictions arising from the inability of the postIndependence
Indian state to introduce the institutional changes and adopt the interventions
needed for successful import-substituting industrialisation, had resulted in a crisis in that
growth strategy by the mid-1960s. Yet the transition to neoliberalism occurred only after a
decade-and a half, and in accelerated fashion only after two decades. The paper would trace
this lag to the timing of changes in the international financial system that was a prerequisite for
liberalization. It would argue that once the transition occurred and gained momentum India
emerged as a successful instance of neoliberal growth because of the foundations created in the
import substituting years, her fortuitous ability to avoid severe balance of payments and financial
crises, and the human face which governments were forced to adopt given the compulsions
of democracy in a populous country with significant poverty.