INDIAN FIVE-YEAR PLANNING

The first Five-year Plan was launched in 1951 and two subsequent five-year plans were formulated till 1965, when there was a break because of the Indo-Pakistan Conflict. Two successive years of drought, devaluation of the currency, a general rise in prices and erosion of resources disrupted the planning process and after three Annual Plans between 1966 and 1969, the fourth Five-year plan was started in 1969.

The central importance assigned to the public sector was assigned was first articulated in the Industrial Policy Resolution in 1956 and subsequently documented in the second five-year plan in 1956.

The Eighth Plan could not take off in 1990 due to the fast-changing political situation at the Centre and the years 1990-91 and 1991-92 were treated as Annual Plans. The Eighth Plan was finally launched in 1992 after the initiation of structural adjustment policies.

For the first eight Plans the emphasis was on a growing public sector with massive investments in basic and heavy industries, but since the launch of the Ninth Plan in 1997, the emphasis on the public sector has become less pronounced and the current thinking on planning in the country, in general, is that it should increasingly be of an indicative nature.

 Five– year plans:  an overview

The Planning Commission from 1950 to 2014 formulated twelve five-year plans. The 1^st and 2^nd plans aimed at raising public resources for investments in public sector, the 3^rd plan focused on increased emphasis on exports and the 4^th Plan formulated at a difficult period of balance of payments crisis focused on agricultural development.

The 5^th Plan provided enhanced allocations for social sector spending. The 6^th and 7^th Plans were infrastructure plans focusing on raising plan resources for infrastructure spending. The 8^th Plan formulated in the midst of economic reforms achieved 6.7 %growth. The 9^th Plan period witnessed a sharp decline in economic growth to 2.4%. The 10^th and 11^th Plans implemented in the 2004-2014 period witnessed economic growth trajectory of above 9%.