The Nehru-Mahalanobis strategy of development guided the planning practice in India from the—

The Nehru-Mahalanobis strategy, characterized by a heavy-industry-led development model and import substitution, was formally adopted during the Second Five-Year Plan (1956–1961) [4]. While the First Plan focused on agriculture and reconstruction, the Second Plan marked a shift toward capital goods and the public sector's 'commanding heights' [4]. This state-directed industrialization model remained the dominant guiding framework for Indian planning for approximately three decades, from 1950 to 1980. Although the strategy began to erode in the 1980s during the Sixth and Seventh Plans as the share of industry in plan outlay declined and liberalization began, the fundamental structural framework of the Mahalanobis model persisted until the major economic shift in 1991. Therefore, it guided the planning practice from the Second Plan through the Seventh Plan, before being fundamentally replaced by the Eighth Plan's market-oriented reforms [2].

Sources

1. [1] Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 6: Economic Planning in India > Nehru–Mahalanobis Model (adopted in the 2nd FYP) > p. 135
2. [2] Indian Economy, Vivek Singh (7th ed. 2023-24) > Chapter 6: Indian Economy [1947 – 2014] > 2nd Five Year Plan (1956 - 61) > p. 207
3. [4] https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cbrwp376.pdf