Various Five-Year Plans

1. First Five-Year Plan (1951-56)

• • Focus on agriculture and irrigation
  • Aim: To achieve food security
  • Jawaharlal Nehru proclaimed the dams as the ‘temples of modern India’
  • Community Development Programme (1952): The major aim of this programme was to bring an integrated development in the rural society, that covers all the aspects of the life of people.
  • Based on Harrod-Domar Model
  • Industrial Policy Resolution, 1956 (Economic Constitution of India)
  • Growth Rate: 3.6% (Target: 2.1%)

2. Second Five-Year Plan (1956-61)

• • Focus on Heavy industries mainly steel, power plants
  • Aim: To achieve rapid industrialisation, townships
  • Based on Nehru-Mahala Nobis Model
  • Growth Rate: 4.2% (Target: 4.5%)

3. Third Five Year Plan (1961-66)

• • Focus on industrialisation and food security both
  • Import substitution was adopted as strategy
  • Aim: Self Sufficiency in agriculture and also exports
  • But 3 major roadblocks: War with China (1962), War with Pakistan (1965), Severe Drought (1965,1966).
  • India had to import foodgrains from the USA under PL-480 due to acute food shortage.
  • Foreign Exchange crisis led to devaluation of rupees
  • Growth Rate: 2.8% (Target: 5.6%)
  • Five Year Plans were abolished for the next 3 years.
  • Food Corporation of India (FCI) was established in 1965.
  • Agricultural Prices Commission was setup (for recommending Minimum Support Price)

4. Three Annual Plans (1966-69)

• • Focus on Green Revolution
  • Aim was to recover from the shock

5. Fourth Five Year Plan (1969-74)

• • Focus on growth with stability and progress towards self-reliance
  • Gadgil Strategy for determining the allocation of central assistance for state plans in India
  • Family Planning was introduced
  • Bank Nationalisation was achieved in 1969
  • Growth Rate: 3.3% (Target: 5.7%)

6. Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-79)

• • Focus on Poverty Eradication (Garibi Hatao) and Self Reliance
  • Various anti-poverty programmes for BPL families.
  • The Minimum Needs Programme (MNP): to provide certain basic minimum needs and improve the living standards of people.
  • Emergency declared in 1975 by the Indira Gandhi Government and Janata Party came into power in 1977. Thus, a rolling plan was adopted for 1978-83.
  • However, in 1980 the Janata Party lost the election and Congress under Indira Gandhi came to power with a thumping majority and Five-Year Plans were resumed in 1980
  • Growth Rate: 4.8% (Target: 4.4%)

7. Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-85)

• • Focus on rural development and increased national income.
  • More importance to development of infrastructure
  • NABARD was established in 1982.
  • Growth Rate: 5.7% (Target: 5.2%)

8. Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-90)

• • Gradual liberalisation to end isolation of from globalisation
  • Focus on employment generation
  • Growth Rate: 6.1% (Target: 5%)
  • Due to geo-political crises like Tension in USSR, Gulf War and Balance of Payment (BoP) crisis of 1991, Eighth Plan was not started in 1990. It resumes after a gap of 2 years.
  • Annual Plans were brought in.

9. Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-97)

• • Policy of Liberalisation Privatisation and Globalisation (LPG)
  • Structural Reforms to improve the macro-economic stability of India
  • From imperative planning to indicative planning which opened the space for private sector participation
  • Disinvestment of Public Sector Enterprises began,
  • Growth Rate: 6.8% (Target: 5.6%)

10. Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002)

• • Focus on employment, self-reliance and quality of life
  • Beginning of Privatisation of Public Sector Enterprises.
  • National Highway Development Project to increase the length of national highways.
  • Growth Rate: 5.3% (Target: 6.5%)

11. Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07)

• • Reduction in Poverty
  • Aim at more than 8% growth rate
  • Improvement in Child mortality rates, Literacy rates
  • National Food for Work Programme in 2004 by providing additional supplementary wage employment in the identified 150 Districts of the Country.
  • National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005: Providing a legal guarantee for at least 100 days of employment
  • Growth Rate: 7.6% (Target: 8%)

12. Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12)

• • Focus on faster and more inclusive growth
  • Aim: agriculture growth rate at 4%, overall growth rate at 8-10%
  • Focus on generating employment
  • Increase in real wage for unskilled workers
  • Growth Rate: 8% (Target: 9%)

13. Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17)

• • Focus on inclusive and sustainable growth
  • Faster reduction in poverty
  • Agricultural growth rate at 4%

Note: 12th FYP was the last plan under the Planning Commission. It was replaced with NITI Aayog.