Growth and Distribution in Indian Industry in the Nineties

In a study of the evolution of the Indian manufacturing sector over close to three decades we find the annual average rate of growth in the nineties to have risen almost across the board at the two-digit level of industry. Nevertheless, the acceleration is not particularly impressive for what is often hailed as the most significant policy-regime shift since 1950. There is a hefty rise in investment, however, though without a corresponding increase in its efficiency. And distribution has shifted sharply with labour's share declining. This paper attempts to link these developments in a coherent way.