Growth of the Industries under Alternative Policy Regimes: A Disaggregated Policy Review with Special Reference to Indian Manufacturing Sector

Abstract

The ever increasing role of the manufacturing sector in realizing the dreams of establishing the socialistic pattern of the society can never be undermined in the context of Indian economy. Since independence a number of industrial policies were taken up to foster the growth of manufacturing sector and other industries in India. The first phase of globalisation measures were initiated in late 1980s which resulted into an unsustainable growth story led by huge external borrowing and that ultimately culminated into the exchange rate crisis of 1991. In combating with such a severe crisis, the New Economic Policy was promulgated on 24th July, 1991 following the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) initiated by the Government of India as per IMF directions. The present paper evaluates the growth of the industry especially manufacturing industry under alternative policy regimes. Aggregate data on national economy and manufacturing sector were collected from National Account Statistics accessed from EPW Research Foundation database. The analysis of the study suggested that the growth of GDP of Indian economy and manufacturing sector (both registered and unregistered) stepped up notably in the post-liberalization period as compared to those in the pre-liberalisation era indicating the positive impact of the liberalisation measures on the economy in general and manufacturing sector in particular. The capital formation of the manufacturing sector was also positively influenced by the pro-market reforms policies initiated in the late 1980s and in the early 1990s. The productivity of the manufacturing sector improved in the post-liberalisation era as compared to the pre-reform period as signified by the decreasing capital output ratio in the post-reform regime.

Keywords: New Economic Policy, GDP, Capital Formation, Liberalisation, Regulation, Industry

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