Perspective Paper – Indian Industry: A Seven-Decade Journey and the Road Ahead

Arnab Majumdar

Abstract

Industrialisation in its true sense began in India only after her independence in 1947. It has been a long journey since then. Initially, for about four and half decades since 1947, based on the Import-substitution strategy, Indian industry functioned in a highly regulated and protected environment dominated by the public sector. However, a paradigm shift occurred in India’s industrialisation strategy in the early 1990s as a new policy regime aimed at opening up and deregulation of Indian industry was adopted to facilitate the growth of competition. While the Indian industry has been functioning according to this policy regime for the last three decades, new issues have started to emerge. The paper attempts to unravel the cause and consequence of the process of industrialisation that has unfolded in India over the last seven decades and tries to analyse the challenges confronting the Indian industry at present and suggest the policy initiatives that could tackle them.

Keywords: Public Sector, Pro-Competitive Measures, Employment Elasticity of Growth, Non-Performing Assets, Labour Reforms

Volume 12, Issue 1
June 30, 2021
Pages: 166-186

DOI: http://doi.org/10.4038/cbj.v12i1.74

Suggested citation:

Majumdar, A. (2021). Indian industry: A seven-decade journey and the road ahead. Colombo Business Journal, 12(1), 166-186. http://doi.org/10.4038/cbj.v12i1.74

Arnab Majumdar
Department of Economics, Women’s Christian College, The University of Calcutta, India
arnab195@gmail.com