Service Intensities in the Indian Economy: 1968/9–1993/4

This paper analyses the service intensities for production of different industries in the Indian economy during the period 1968–69 to 1993–94 with an input–output approach. Two different methodologies—(1) direct service intensities and (2) direct plus indirect service intensities—have been used to calculate the service intensity of different industries using six input–output tables. It is found from the exercise that service intensities have increased in the Indian economy over 25 years. To reflect the performance and trend of service intensity of each industry over the study period, the mean and coefficient of variation of the service intensities have been calculated. The empirical part of this study shows that Metal products, Machineries, Trade, and Banking have a high mean and a low coefficient of variation. According to their service intensities they were the key sectors, with consistently the largest consumption of the output of the service sector as an input for their production.