ABSTRACT
The decline from the position was abrupt, and with the rise of Lancashire and the fall of the princely Courts India collapsed into industrial insignificance, complete but for the hard-hit village crafts. By 1957 India ranked about fifth among the industrial countries of the world, but this was a function of size rather than of development. The growth of consumption industries had been favoured by untaxed machinery imports –some offset to 'Lancashire interference'–but this inhibited the development of production goods. The woollens industry also suffered from Partition: a third or more of the clip came from West Pakistan, and again this was the better third in quality. A small but interesting industry was the manufacture of plumbago crucibles for non-ferrous metallurgy, carried on at Calcutta, and Rajahmundry in the Godavari delta. The cement industry grew as modern methods of construction were adopted. Food processing came first of the major industrial groups in number of establishments, but third in employment.
