Indian Registered Manufacturing Sector: Changing Structure and Performance, 1980-2004

The present paper intends to study the changing structure and performance of the Indian registered manufacturing sector from 1980-81 to 2003-04 at two-digit level of industrial classification. To analyze the structure and performance, trend growth rates and structural ratios have been calculated. The study period has been divided into two parts, pre-reform period (1980-81 to 1990-91) and the post-reform period (1991-92 to 2003-04). Further, to understand the pattern of performance at a more disaggregated level, the post-reform period has been divided into two parts, early part of the post-reform period (1991-92 to 1999-2000) and the later part of the post-reform period (2000-01 to 2003-04). Using the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) data, the study found, there has been industrial slowdown during the later part of the post-reform period. And as far as the performance of the manufacturing sector is concerned, it has been at its best during the 1990s (1991-92 to 1999-2000).