Economic Planning and Five-Year Plans

The Planning Commission was established in March 1950.

The First Five-Year Plan covered 1951–1956.

Agriculture, irrigation and community development received strong emphasis in the First Plan.

P. C. Mahalanobis developed the model associated with the Second Plan‘s emphasis on heavy industry.

The Second Plan emphasised rapid industrialisation, particularly heavy and basic industries.

The Third Plan covered 1961–1966.

Plan Holidays refer to the period of annual plans from 1966 to 1969 between the Third and Fourth Plans.

The Fourth Plan covered 1969–1974.

The Fifth Plan was designed for 1974–1979, but it was terminated in 1978.

A rolling plan is revised periodically, with plans updated as new information and circumstances emerge.

The Sixth Plan covered 1980–1985.

The Seventh Plan covered 1985–1990.

The transition period involved annual plans rather than a regular Five-Year Plan.

The Eighth Plan covered 1992–1997.

The Ninth Five-Year Plan covered 1997–2002.

The Tenth Plan covered 2002–2007.

The Eleventh Plan covered 2007–2012.

The Twelfth Plan covered 2012–2017.

NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission in 2015.

India no longer follows the earlier centralised Five-Year Plan framework after the Twelfth Plan ended in 2017.