Reflections on Indian Industrialisation : Retrospect and Prospect

Contents: Acknowledgement. Preface. 1. Labour-distribution in Indian economy. 2. Productivity and wages in Indian manufacturing. 3. Capital-output and capital-labour ratios in Indian manufacturing. 4. On technological choice in a developing economy. 5. Economics of employment. 6. Population pressure and economic development. 7. Change in the pattern of Indian manufacturing. 8. Price situation and the plan. 9. Agricultural development. 10. The automobile industry of India. 11. Productivity in the coal mining industry of India. 12. Political economy of globalisation. 13. Economic reform and Indian manufacturing. 14. Economic reform and the emerging middle class. 15. Epilogue. Appendices.

"Industrialisation covers such a wide field that it is almost impossible to identify the contours of its expanse. This work primarily revolves around manufacturing, mainly as a whole, its features, variables ratios, as well as selected individual industry. It is in retrospect in the sense that it traces aspects in the early planning era. While concentrating on manufacturing, it could not ignore other related phenomena like labour distribution as well as sectoral contribution to the GDP, the population pressure, the true implication of employment expansion in the context of industrialisation, technological choice and the modern technological revolution as well as the most growth-oriented industry. Towards the end, it brings to the forefront the world phenomenon of globalisation, economic reforms in India - its features, impact on sectoral proportionality, and on manufacturing, the deficiencies, and the orientation. It is in this second section that the prospect of industrialisation is implicit, and the tasks ahead of the nation, in some respects, concretely stated, not only to make a meaningful advance, but also to sustain its existence in a globally competitive world economy." (jacket)