The economic liberalisation of the early 1990s is a significant milestone in the economic history of India. Two decades hence, this book provides a meaningful assessment of the liberalisation experience and a critical account of the structure and performance of India’s trade and industrial sectors following the policy decisions taken during that time.

Drawing from theory, empirical literature, case studies and econometric evaluations, the chapters provide in-depth and wide-ranging assessments of how firm, industry, product and country characteristics interact to determine trade and industrial performance. They study recent trends in manufacturing productivity, regional inequality and specialisation in manufacturing output, structure and performance of small-scale enterprises, and the export performance of agricultural commodities to present a tapestry of the Indian experience of liberalisation.

The book provides a balanced and updated analysis of various emerging issues in the areas of India’s trade and industry at macro and micro-economic levels and discusses the following questions: How can India’s participation in global production networks be strengthened? How do we expand exports of labour intensive products? What have been the policy lessons from the past? What are the structural and policy-induced impediments to growth and competitiveness?

By considering industries and products as the units of analysis, this book sets the stage for further case studies and econometric analysis using detailed firm- and plant-level data. It will be valuable for students and scholars of economics, commerce and development studies.

C. Veeramani is Associate Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.

R. Nagaraj is Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.

List of Tables and Figures
List of Abbreviations
Foreword by S. Mahendra Dev

1. Emerging Issues in India’s Trade and Industrial Sectors: An Introductory Overview
C. Veeramani and R Nagaraj

PART I: General Issues

2. Global Production Sharing and Export Expansion: Emerging Opportunities and the Indian Experience
Prema-chandra Athukorala

3. Post-Reform Trends in Growth and Productivity in Indian Manufacturing
Bishwanath Goldar and Sreerupa Sengupta

4. Regional Industrial Growth: Have the Economic Reforms Made a Difference?
R. Nagaraj

5. Recent Trends in Mega-mergers in India and Lessons for Competition Policy: Insights from the First Two Years of Merger Cases under the Competition Act
Aditya Bhattacharjea

PART II: Sector-Specific Issues

6. India’s Exports of Unskilled Labour Intensive Products: A Comparative Analysis
C. Veeramani and Garima Dhir

7. Structure of the Indian Small Scale Sector in the Post-Reform Period: A Case of Policy Failure
T. A. Bhavani

8. Integration into Global Automotive Value Chains: Co-evolution of Firm and Market Capabilities
Madhuri Sarippalle

9. Liberalisation and Industrial Development: A Study of Machine Tool Industry in India
R. Rijesh

10. Trade and Investment in India’s Legal Services Sector: Understanding the Regulatory Environment
Rupa Chanda and Pralok Gupta

11. India’s Agricultural Exports: Prospects and Constraints
C. S. C. Sekhar and Yogesh Bhatt

Contributors
Index