The initiation of economic reforms in 1991 was a major watershed in India’s industrial
development. The steps taken in 1991 and the next few years led to the dismantling of most
domestic industrial controls and substantial liberalization of trade. This process of trade
liberalization continued over time and eventually, by around the mid-2000s, almost all
products were freely importable and tariff rates, except for some agricultural products and
certain manufactured items, had been brought down to a low level . How Indian
manufacturing has fared in terms of employment generation and wages in the post-reform
period, i.e., the period after 1991, is the main topic addressed in this study.