This study is based on my doctoral dissertation approved in 1985 by the Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge. The study, especially the part on technology transfer, was made possible by the help of numerous Indian government officials who gave me access to many restricted and unpublished documents and also granted me long interviews. I received considerable assistance from officials, too numerous to name, in the Ministries of Industry, Petroleum, Coal, Steel, Commerce and External Affairs, and a large number of public sector corporations: Steel Authority of India Limited, Metallurgical and Engineering Consultants, Heavy Engineering Corporation, Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Indian Oil Corporation, Instrumentation Limited, Bharat Aluminium Corporation and Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (both in their corporate office and their plants). I was particularly fortunate to have secured access to the actual contracts between Indian and Soviet firms, so far not available to any researcher. In addition, many technocrats in public enterprises and officials in government departments provided valuable information during discussions on the subject of Soviet technology transfer to India and Indo-Soviet trade.

I acknowledge with gratitude the comments of Peter Nolan who painstakingly supervised my research. Michael Kaser, W. B. Macpherson and Sumitra Chisti read the entire draft; John Sender and Gabriel Palma read parts of it and offered valuable suggestions. I learnt a great deal from discussions within an East–South study group which met at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, during 1983 and 1984; the discussions with Robert Cassen and Alan Smith proved particularly useful.