Seed industry in India has been making great strides since independence. The government through policy initiatives helped the development and growth of the nascent industry. As a result quality seed production which was just 0.18 million quintals in 1953-54 has risen to 5.3 million quintals in 1992-92. Although the growth seems impressive, quality seed production has been far below the requirement for most of the crops. This paper examines the government policies for seed and analysis the performance of the three sub-systems of the seed system to highlight their strengths and weaknesses and constraints to the growth of the industry.