The average size of manufacturing plant (or factory) measured in terms of number of workers employed, has shown a secular decline in practically all industry groups over the period 1950 to 1980. This appears to be very significant not only in itself but also for our understanding of industrial change in India. The analysis in this paper, though very tentative, suggests that the relationship between capital intensity, profit rate and size seems to have undergone a considerable change compared to what Ishikawa had observed over two decades ago. Following his reasoning the observed changes seem to suggest that some of the institutional constraints which were responsible for the predominance of large sized factories in the fifties have, at least to a certain extent, been overcome in the subsequent period. The author's findings also appear to question some of the accepted dictums regarding the association between size, capital intensity and efficiency.