Five year Plans of India – List of Five Years Plans from (1951 to Till Now)

Oct 21, 2023   By Rohini

We have given you with the five-year plans in India goals and achievements which will help you for preparing competitive exams. By reading these Five-year plans in India you will get good knowledge and know more about what are the objectives of each five-year plan in India. From 1947 to 2024, the Indian economy was committed to the concept of planning. This planning was carried through the budget and five-year plans developed, executed, and monitored by the Planning Commission (1951 – 2014) and the NITI Aayog (2014 – 2024). The Eleventh Plan completes its term in March 2012 and the Twelfth Plan is currently underway.

Five Year Plans in India – Important Five-year plans

  • From 1947 to 2024 India five year Plans i.e, the Indian economy was premised on the concept of planning.
  • The development of plans is drawn by the planning commission to establish India Economic on a Socialistic Pattern in Successive Phase of 5 Years periods.
  • Joseph Stalin implemented the first Five Year Plan in the Soviet Union in late 1920.
  • The new government led by Narendra Modi, who is in charge from 2014, made an announcement about the dissolution of the Planning Commission, and its replacement by a think tank called the NITI Aayog (an acronym for National Institution for Transforming India).
  • India launches its First Indian five year plans in 1951, immediately after independence under the socialist influence of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

The Five-year plans were made by

  • Planning commission of India
  • National Planning Council
  • National Development and State Planning Commissions.

First five-year plan (1951 – 1956)

  • The First Five Year Plans was one of the most important because it had a great role in the launching of Indian development after Independence.
  • The first Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru presented the First Five-Year Plan to the Parliament of India.
  • The First Five-Year Plan was on the Harrod–Domar model with few modifications.
  • The total plan budget of Rs.2069 crore (2378 crore later) was allocated to seven broad mainly concentrated on Agriculture and Transport and Communications.
  • At the end of the plan period in 1956, five Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) took a start as major technical institutions.
  • The target growth rate was 2.1%.
  • The achieved growth rate was 3.6%.

Second Five-year Plan (1956 – 1961)

  • The Second Plan was particularly in the development of the public sector and rapid Industrialization.
  • The plan is made on the Mahalanobis model, an economic development model.
  • Indian statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in 1953 made development to the plan.
  • The total amount under the Second Five-Year Plan in India was Rs.48 billion.
  • The target growth rate was 4.5%.
  • The actual growth rate was 4.27%.

Third Five Year Plan (1961 – 1966)

  • The Third Five-year Plans, the main focus was on agriculture and improvement in the production of wheat.
  • Many cement and fertilizer plants built. Punjab began producing an abundance of wheat.
  •  Panchayat elections were started and the states were given more development responsibilities.
  • Due to the miserable failure of the Third Plan, the government forcibly declared “plan holidays” (from 1966–67, 1967–68, and 1968–69).
  • The main reasons for plan holidays were the war, lack of resources, and an increase in inflation after that planned holiday.
  • The target growth rate was 5.6%.
  • The actual growth rate was 2.4%.

Fourth Five Year Plan (1969 – 1974)

  • During the fourth five year plan Indira Gandhi was the there.
  • The Indira Gandhi government nationalized 14 major Indian banks and the Green Revolution in India advanced agriculture.
  • India tests the Smiling Buddha underground nuclear test (Pokhran-1) in Rajasthan.
  • A Slogan of Garibi Hatao is given during the 1971 elections by Indira Gandhi.
  • The target growth rate was 5.6%.
  • The actual growth rate was 3.3%.

Fifth Five Year Plan (1974 – 1979)

  • The Fifth Five-Year Plan laid stress on employment, poverty alleviation (Garibi Hatao), and justice.
  • The plan focus was on self-reliance in agricultural production and defence.
  • The Electricity Supply Act came into force from 1975.
  •  In 1978 Morarji Desai government rejects the plan.
  • The target growth rate was 4.4%.
  • The actual growth rate was 4.8%.

Rolling Plan (1978 – 1980)

  • The Janata Party government rejects the Fifth Five-Year Plan and made an introduction to a new Sixth Five-Year Plan (1978–1980).
  • This plan got rejection by the Indian National Congress government in 1980.
  • A new Sixth Plan took place.
  • The Rolling Plan consists of three kinds of plans.

Sixth Five Year Plan (1980 – 1985)

  • The Sixth Five-Year Plan marked the beginning of economic liberalization.
  • This was the end of Nehruvian socialism.
  • Family planning was also expanded in order to prevent overpopulation.
  • The target growth rate was 5.2%.
  • The actual growth rate was 5.7%.
  • A sixth five-year plan is the only Five-Year Plan which was done twice.

Seventh Five Year Plan (1985 – 1990)

  • The Seventh Five-Year Plan marked the comeback of the Congress Party to power.
  • The plan laid stress on improving the productivity level of industries by upgrading of technology.
  • The main objectives of the Seventh Five-Year Plan were to establish growth in areas of increasing economic productivity, production of food grains, and generating employment through Social Justice.
  • The target growth rate was 5.0%.
  • The actual growth rate was 6.01%.

Annual Plans (1990 -1992)

  • The Eighth Plan could not take off in 1990 due to the fast-changing political situation at the centre.
  • The years 1990–91 and 1991–92 were known as Annual Plans.

Eight Five Year Plan (1992 – 1997)

  • Modernization of industries was a major highlight of the Eighth Plan.
  • Meanwhile, India became a member of the World Trade Organization on 1 January 1995.
  • The major objectives were controlling population growth, poverty reduction, employment generation, strengthening the infrastructure, institutional building, tourism management, human resource development, involvement of Panchayati Raj, Nagar Palikas, NGOs, decentralization and people’s participation.
  • Energy is the major priority with 26.6% of the outlay.
  • The target growth rate was 5.6%.
  • The actual growth rate was 6.8%.

Ninth Five Year Plan (1997 -2002)

  • The Ninth Five-Year Plan came after 50 years of Indian Independence.
  •  Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister of India during the Ninth Five-Year Plan.
  • The Ninth Five-Year Plan saw contributions towards development from the general public as well as governmental agencies in both the rural and urban areas of the country.
  • The Ninth Five-Year Plan focused on the relationship between rapid economic growth and the quality of life for the people of the country.
  • The target growth was 7.1%.
  • The actual growth was 6.8%.

Tenth Five year Plan (2002 -2007)

  • The main objectives of the Tenth Five-Year Plan were
  • Attain 8% GDP growth per year
  • Reduction of poverty rate by 5% by 2007
  • Providing gainful and high-quality employment at least to the addition to the labour force
  • Reduction in gender gaps in literacy and wage rates by at least 50% by 2007
  • Target growth was 8.1%.
  • The actual growth was 7.7%.

Eleventh Five year Plan (2007 -2012)

  • C. Rangarajan prepares the Eleventh Five-year Plan.
  • The main focus is for faster and more inclusive growth.
  • Its growth rate was 8.1%.
  • Its Actual growth was 7.9%.

Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012 – 2024)

It is the last five-year plan of India. It is focused fast and sustainable growth of India. The objectives points of 12th five years plan have listed below.

  • The Twelfth Five-Year Plan of the Government of India has made to achieve a growth rate of 8.2%.
  • But the National Development Council (NDC) on 27 Dec 2012 approved 8% growth rate for the 12th five-year plan.
  • The plan aims towards the betterment of the infrastructural projects of the nation avoiding all types of bottlenecks.
  • The Plan focused to create 50 million new work opportunities in the non-farm sector
  • Improve to access to the higher education
  • To provide Electricity supply to all villages.
  • 50% of non-rural area people have to get the proper drinking water
  • It removes Gender & Social Gap in School Admissions
  • Reduce the Malnutrition issue among the 0-3 aged children
  • To enhance green cover by 1 million hectares every year.
  • To accommodate access to banking services to 90% of households.

Hope the article on Five-year Plans in India will be useful for the competitive exams. Make note of five-year plans in India and their objectives for better scoring in exams.