From the “Hindu rate of growth” to “unstoppable India”: has the services sector played a role?

Article Type: Abstracts From: Strategic Direction, Volume 27, Issue 1

Joshi S.The Service Industries Journal, July 2010, Vol. 30 No. 7, Start page: 1299, No. of pages: 14

India shifted from an import substitution growth strategy (ISS) to an export-led-growth strategy (ELGS) in July 1991. Consequently, liberalization was promulgated not only in the industrial sector but in the services sector too in the post-1991 period. “services-led-growth strategy” – a concomitant of ELGS – has led to an improvement in the revealed comparative advantage in the export of commercial services during the period 1990-2005. Furthermore, the openness of services and foreign direct investment in services have emerged as important determinants of gross domestic product growth during the period 1995-2005. The author therefore argues that if ISS led to the “Hindu rate of growth” in the first three decades of planning,it is the services-led growth which has made “India unstoppable” on the economic front.Article type: Research paperISSN: 0264-2069Reference: 39AR576

Keywords: Liberalisation, Service revolution