The objective of this study was four-fold: a) to document changes in India’s trade policy using coverage ratios of non-tariff barriers and nominal and effective rates of protection during the 1980s and 1990s, b) to examine the structure of protection in Indian industry, c) to document the performance of registered manufacturing sector, and d) to explore the relationship between changes in trade policy and industry performance. The results show that protection to Indian industry declined during the period studied. The registered manufacturing sector showed impressive annual growth for both output and gross value added, especially for the consumer goods industries and the export promoting industries, confirming the finding of earlier studies for the 1980s