The Indian economy experienced a structural break and acceleration in trend rate of growth during the mid-1980s. The mild reforms of this period played a key role in crossing the 5 per cent benchmark as far as economic growth was concerned . The more comprehensive reforms of the 1990s provided a further boost to growth during the post-1991 reform period. The average annual growth rates during the pre-1991 reform and the post-1991 reform periods are significantly different. Further, the concerns of "fragility" and "unsustainability" of growth during the 1980s are overstated.
