THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC REFORMS ON INDIAN MANUFACTURERS : EVIDENCE FROM A SMALL SAMPLE SURVEY

Although there has been much theorising on the impact of Indias economic reforms of 1991 on Indian manufacturers, there is hardly any previous study that has taken up the task of actually asking the manufacturing firms as to what the true impact of economic reforms has been on them. In this paper, we report the findings of a small sample survey of manufacturing enterprises in the Delhi region regarding perceptions of the impact of economic reforms of 1990s. Most firms felt that the reforms were helpful by increasing access to foreign technology and making imports of capital and intermediate goods cheaper. They also felt that improvement in infrastructure and more flexible labour laws will facilitate further growth of Indias manufacturing sector.