Five Year Plans of India: Objectives and Targets

From 1951 to 2017, the Indian economy was based on the concept of planning. The Planning Commission was responsible for developing, executing and monitoring Five-Year Plans. The first chairman of the Planning Commission was Jawaharlal Nehru (Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairman of Planning Commission).

Montek Singh Ahluwalia was the last deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.

In 2014, the NDA government dissolved the Planning Commission and replaced it with NITI Aayog (a new think tank).

India took the idea of five-year plan from the Soviet Union. The first five year plan was launched in India in 1951.

The topic "Five year plans of India" is important for the students preparing for competitive exams like UPSC CDS, Civil Services, State PCS, SSC CGL, SSC CHSL, RRB NTPC, and other exams.

Here is the complete list of five-year plans in India

Five Year Plan	Time interval	Chairman	Targeted GDP growth (%)	Achieved GDP growth (%)	Based on model	Important Points
First Five Year Plan	1951-1956	Jawaharlal Nehru	2.1	3.6	Harrod Domar Model	Under this plan, Khadi Village Board was established. The priority areas of this plan were agriculture, irrigation and electricity. Five IITs were established in India.
Second Five Year Plan	1956-1961	Jawaharlal Nehru	4.5	4.27	Prashant Chandra Mahalanobis	The second plan is in line with the five year plan of Russia. Three public sector steel factories were established in this plan. With the help of Germany a steel factory was set up in Rourkela, Orissa. With the help of Russia, a steel factory was established in 1959 in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh. With the help of Britain, a steel plant was established in Durgapur, West Bengal.
Third Five Year Plan	1961-1966	Jawaharlal Nehru	5.6	2.4	Sukhamoy Chakraborty and Professor John Sandy	The plan laid emphasis on both agriculture and industry. This plan was also called Gadgil Yojana. Main aim of this plan was to establish the Indian economy as self-reliant and self-generating. During this plan, India participated in two wars- the Sino-India war 1962 and the India Pakistan war 1965. The plan proved to be a failure due to drought and wars. State electricity boards were established.
Plan Holidays	1966-69	-	-	-		The reason behind plan holidays was wars in which India was involved and drought. Although Annual plans were made during this period. Indian rupee was devaluated to increase the exports.
Fourth Five Year Plan	1969-1974	Indira Gandhi	5.7	3.5	Ashok Rudra Menon	Main objectives of this plan were – Growth with stability and Self-reliance. Green Revolution started during the fourth five year plan. Bangladesh Liberation war and Indo Pakistan war 1971 were the major events that occurred during this plan. The main target of this plan was to implement Family Planning Programmes. “Garibi Hatao” slogan was given by Indira Gandhi during her election campaign in 1971. 14 major Indian banks were nationalized. Bokaro Steel Plant was established.
Fifth Five Year Plan	1974-1978	Indira Gandhi	4.4	4.83	D P Dhar	The Plan was rejected by the newly elected government headed by Morarji Desai in 1978. The focus of this plan was on Poverty alleviation (Garibi Hatao), Employment, Justice, and Agriculture. Indian National Highway system was introduced. In 1975, the Indira Gandhi government launched the Twenty point programme.
Rolling Plan	1978-1980	-	-	-	Gunnar Myrdal	The plan was rejected by the INC government in 1980.
Sixth Five Year Plan	1980-1985	Indira Gandhi	5.2	5.5	-	The main objective of this scheme was poverty alleviation and employment generation. It was based on Investment Yojana. Integrated Rural Development Programme, National Rural Employment Programme, Training of rural youth for self employment, development of women and children in rural areas, Rural landless employment guarantee programs, etc. were started. NABARD was also established.
Seventh Five Year Plan	1985-1990	Rajiv Gandhi	5.0	6.02	Ramkrishna Hegde	Objectives of this plan were to establish a self-reliant economy, create opportunities for productive employment and upgrade technology. Focus on increasing food grain production. Private sector during this plan got priority over the public sector. The plan was a success despite severe drought conditions for the first three years.
Eighth Five Year Plan	1992-1997	P V Narasimha Rao	5.6	6.8		The priority of this plan was the development of human resources by ensuring quality education, health and employment. New Economic Policy of India was launched during the eighth five year plan. It was the start of Liberalization, Privatisation and Globalisation (LPG) in India. There was rapid economic growth in agriculture and allied sector and manufacturing. Exports and imports also grew; trade and current account deficit also improved. In 1993, Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojana was launched.
Ninth Five Year Plan	1997-2002	Atal Bihari Vajpayee	6.5	5.6	-	Main focus of ninth five year plan: “Growth with Social Justice and Equality” Priority was given to rural development and agriculture.
Tenth Five Year Plan	2002-2007	Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh	8.0	7.6	-	Main aim of the tenth five year plan was to increase the literacy rate and reduce poverty by 5 points. It also aimed to double the per capita income in the next 10 years.
Eleventh Five Year Plan	2007-2012	Manmohan Singh	9.0	8	C. Rangarajan	Theme of the Eleventh five year plan was “Rapid and More inclusive growth”.
Twelfth Five Year Plan	2012-2017	Manmohan Singh	8.0	-		The theme of the twelfth five year plan was “Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth”. In 2014, the Narendra Modi government dissolved the Planning Commission and launched a new think tank NITI Aayog in 2015.