Economic Planning in India

India adopted a system of five yearly planning to address its various socio-economic problems. The problems of Indian economy at the time of its independence include mass poverty and inequality, low productivity in agriculture and storage of food grains, lack of industrial and infrastructural development, etc.

Since these are to be solved over the long period, Indian government adopted five year plan starting from first year plan in 1951 development. The idea was to make a list of important problems to be solved keeping in view the given resources and the capacity to arrange the resources. Then make a review after five years of what has been done and rectify the mistakes accordingly in the next five year plan period and so on.

Some of the great architects of Indian planning include Jawaharlal Nehru, P.C Mahalonobis, V.R Gadgil, V.K.R.V Rao. After becoming the first prime minister of independent India, Nehru established the Planning Commission in 1950. The major function of the Planning Commission was to formulate plans keeping in view the resources of the country and suggesting the best methods to utilize them effectively and in a balanced manner.

Planning commission prepared the first five year plan (FYP) for the period 1951-1956. By 2014, India has already experienced more than sixty years of planning with eleventh five year plans being completed are twelfth FYP continuing.