India's Growth Experience and the Missing Transition

This paper examines the structure of growth acceleration of the postindependence Indian economy using national as well as state level output figures and capital stock series at the national level. By examining the manner in which growth accelerations at various national and sub-national disaggregated series are clustered in time, we argue that they began in the 1980s and caught momentum in the 1990s. In moving away from excessive dependence on agriculture, Indian economy seems to have missed the Kuznets transition to an increased share of the manufacturing sector. This has important implications for employment and rural poverty.