The present study is primarily aimed to examine the changes taken place in Small Scale Industries in Western Uttar Pradesh and the development of Small Scale Industries especially in the district of Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur due to implementation of liberalization. The present study is step further to develop sufficient insight leading to formation of appropriate institutional arrangement to strength economic viability of small scale industrial units in Western Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere in country. The analysis of growth of small scale industrial sector reveals a substantial horizontal growth of this sector in terms of number of units during the entire study period. However, during the post-liberalization period a decelerating trend has been observed in the growth of number of units. The production of small scale industrial sector grew at the rate of 10.21 percent per annum during the entire period. However, a decline in the growth rate of production has been observed after the introduction of deregulatory policies in the year 1991. The same trend has been observed in case of variables like employment and exports of Indian small scale industrial sector. This sector needs many corrective steps to succeed in the twenty first century and more so with the slowing down of economies of the US and European Union on one hand ever-increasing competition from the Chinese economy on the other.
The small scale industrial sector will play a more dynamic role in the years to come through effective implementation of process of modernization and technology upgradation, improved flow of finance for term credit and working capital requirements, better marketing of products of small units through establishment of market intelligence cell and proper strengthening of linkages between large and small enterprises. Moreover, the learning-by-doing process needs to be hastened to enhance the efficiency levels and promote managerial expertise in the small scale industrial sector. Also, the competitiveness of Indian small scale industrial sector can be improved by increasing its productivity, efficiency and financial viability so that this sector acts as an engine of inclusive growth in the liberalized regime.

Indian Council of Social Science Research

English