When India gained independence, its economy was groveling in dust.

The British had left the Indian

economy crippled and the fathers of development formulated 5 years plan to develop the Indian
economy. The five years plan in India is framed, executed and monitored by the Planning Commission
of India. Currently, India is in its 11th five year plan. Let's see the journey of five year's plan in India and
the objectives in each plan.

Objectives of all the Five Year's Plan:

1st Plan (1951-56)

• The first five year plan was presented by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1951. The First Five Year Plan
was initiated at the end of the turmoil of partition of the country. It gave importance to agriculture,
irrigation and power projects to decrease the countries reliance on food grain imports, resolve the food
crisis and ease the raw material problem especially in jute and cotton. Nearly 45% of the resources
were designated for agriculture, while industry got a modest 4.9%.The focus was to maximize the
output from agriculture, which would then provide the impetus for industrial growth.
• Though the first plan was formulated hurriedly, it succeeded in fulfilling the targets. Agriculture
production increased dramatically, national income went up by 18%, per capita income by 11% and per
capita consumption by 9%

The first five year plan India (1951-1956) had been presented by the then Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru in the Indian Parliament on 8th December, 1951.

The first five year plan had been made by the planning commission whose objective was to
improve the standard of living of the people by effective use of the country's resources. In
India, the first five year plan's total outlay was estimated to been worth Rs. 2,069 crore. In
the first five year plan, this amount was allocated to various areas. They are:

• Community and agriculture development

• Energy and irrigation
• Communications and transport
• Industry
• Land rehabilitation
• Social services

The target of GDP growth in the first five year plan of India was 2.1% per year and the actual
growth of GDP that was achieved had been 3.6% per year. This shows the extent to which the
first five year plan in India had been successful. During the period of India first five year plan,
many projects related to irrigation had been started, such as the Mettur Dam, Bhakra Dam, and
Hirakud Dam.

In the first five year plan of India, provisions have been made for the rehabilitation of
agricultural workers who were landless. Apart from that financial allocation was also made for
conservation of soil, experiments, and training in co-operative organizations. Increased
provisions have also been made for the improvement of roads, civil aviation, railways,
telegraphs, and posts. For the development of the basic industry which includes the
manufacture of fertilizers and electrical equipment, provisions have been made in the Indian
first five year plan. Emphasis has also been given to small scale and village industries in the
Indian plan of first five years. First five year plan in India had improved the living condition
of the people of the country and is of historical importance
India has emerged as a super power. The transition was not easy. Guidelines for operating the
economy was provided by the five year plans.

The 1st five year plan was presented by Jawaharlal Nehru, who was the Prime Minister during
that period. It was formulated for the execution of various plans between 1951 to 1956. The
Planning Commission was responsible for working out the plan.

Objectives of the 1st five year plan(1951 to 1961):

The primary aim of the 1st five year plan was to improve living standards of the people of India.
This could be done by making judicious use of India's natural resources. The total outlay of the
1st five year plan was worth Rs.2,069 crore. This amount was assigned to different sectors
which included:
 Industrial sector
 Energy, Irrigation
 Transport, Communications
 Land rehabilitation
 Social services
 Development of agriculture and community
 Miscellaneous issues The target set for the growth in the gross domestic product was
2.1percent every year. In reality, the actual achieved with regard to gross domestic product was
3.6 percent per annum. This is a clear indication of the success of the 1st five year plan.

Some important events that took place during the tenure of

the 1st five year plan:

 The following Irrigation projects were started during that period:

 Mettur Dam
 Hirakud Dam
 Bhakra Dam.
 The government had taken steps to rehabilitate the landless workers, whose main
occupation was agriculture. These workers were also granted fund for experimenting and
undergoing training in agricultural know how in various cooperative institutions. Soil
conservation, was also given considerable importance.
 The Indian government also made considerable effort in improving posts and telegraphs,
railway services, road tracks, civil aviation.
 Sufficient fund was also allocated for the industrial sector. In addition measures were taken
for the growth of the small scale industries.