Rural industrialisation in India : a strategy for rural development

The development of industries in rural areas has been a central element in the Indian Government's industrial policies and programmes for rural development.
Even though rural industrialisation had received much attention in the First Five Year Plan, the employment oriented changes in the industrial policy adopted by the Government of India in 1978 ushered in a new thrust to the strategy of planned promotion and growth of rural industries.
The Sixth Five Year Plan drafted during the Janata regime shifted the plan priorities-highlighting the importance of development of industrial units in rural areas. Thus, the rural industry sector is now assigned a much more important and positive role, to generate employment as also to attain spatial dispersal of industrial activity.
The present study examines the prospects and problems of rural industries in India. For this purpose, the field data was collected from a sizable sample of rural industrial units in nine villages (of Andhra Pradesh).
The analysis is made in rigorous quantitative terms free from myths and prejudices. Such an objective look at the problem, it is hoped, will assist policy makers to review the system of incentives and subsidies and make them more effective.