Induction motors are used as industrial drive due to their rugged and simple construction as well as low maintenance. The speed control of slip ring induction motor (SRIM) is accomplished by slip power recovery scheme consisting of inverter control, chopper control, and rotor resistance control techniques. This article presents the improvement in the performance characteristics of SRIM drive offered by GTO inverter and buck-boost chopper based slip power recovery scheme (SPRS). The simulation model of a 2 hp SRIM drive using Silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) and gate turned off (GTO) inverter control and GTO based buck-boost chopper control has been established in the SIMULINK environment. The simulation results using inverter control and chopper control have been analyzed and compared. The power factor, efficiency and total harmonic distortion have been taken as parameters for analyzing the enhancement in the performance of the SRIM drive. The simulation results have shown that GTO based inverter chopper controlled SPRS has higher power factor, efficiency and lower THD compared to SCR inverter controlled SPRS.