Products of engineering industries acquired importance in India's exports during the 1960s. Among the non-traditional exports, these ‘new manufactures’ experienced the most rapid growth. Table 9.1 highlights these trends and shows that exports of engineering goods which were only $14.1 million in 1960/61 rose to $155.5 million in 1970/71; a tenfold increase, at a compound rate of growth of 27 per cent per annum. As a result, their share in total exports jumped from 1.0 to 7.6 per cent.

This substantial increase in India's exports was quite consistent with the rapid expansion in world trade. Between 1960 and 1970, world exports of engineering products more than trebled, rising from $31 100 million to $95 500 million. However, the bulk of this trade originated from the developed countries, and although India's share in world exports rose from 0.05 to 0.16 per cent, it remained a very tiny fraction of the total. Therefore, it would be appropriate to compare India's export performance in engineering goods with that of other LDCs, rather than the main developed country exporters.

Table 9.2 outlines the trends in the exports of engineering goods from India, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea during the 1960s. Taken together, these countries supplied the bulk of engineering products exported by the developing countries as a group.