This study is a modified version of my doctoral dissertation at the University of Oxford. It is a product of the research carried out at Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford, during 1972 and 1973. I would like to thank my colleagues for an intellectually stimulating environment, and the staff for providing me with all the research facilities. My greatest debt is to Paul Streeten, without whose constant help and encouragement this book would never have been possible.

Conversations with Manmohan Singh, whose previous work on the subject provided the starting point for the study, clarified many of my early ideas. For subsequent discussion on different aspects of the work, I am grateful to Max Corden, Prabhakar Narvekar, Utsa Patnaik and Frances Stewart. Special thanks are due to Angus Hone who read through an earlier draft and made many valuable suggestions. Ian Little, Peter Oppenheimer and Maurice Scott provided several criticisms, most of which I have stubbornly resisted; these did, however, lead to a strengthening of the argument at some places. The errors that remain are, of course, mine.

This book seeks to analyse India's export performance and export policies during the 1960s. When the research was carried out, 1970/71 was also the latest year for which systematic information was available. In the years since then, the Indian economy has witnessed certain new developments, many of which may have a bearing on export trends.