to have been successful. The targets in subsequent plans were not achieved due to a variety of factors. From the Fourth Plan ( – ) the emphasis was on poverty alleviation, so that social objectives were introduced into the planning exercise. The targeted growth rates were reached from the Sixth Plan onwards.
The economy was liberalised during the Eighth Five Year Plan ( – ). Since then, the growth rates have been in excess of % (except for a slowdown in the Ninth Plan).There has been considerable emphasis on growth with justice, and inclusive and sustainable growth. Twelve five year plans have been made between and . Twelfth Five Year Plan ( - ) was the last plan.
In , the Planning Commission was wound up and replaced by the NITI Aayog. P.C. Mahalanobis Envisioning a New Socio-Economic Order Commission also funds several institutes of pure science research. Agriculture is another area where there has been a significant expansion of research and development.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is the coordinating agency for the research done not only in basic agriculture, but also associated activities like fishery, forests, dairy, plant genetics, bio-technology, varieties of crops like rice, potato, tubers, fruits and pest control. Agricultural universities are also actively engaged in teaching and research on agricultural practices. There are agricultural universities in India, and in Tamil Nadu. IIT, Chennai Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) were set up as centres of excellence in different fields of engineering.
The first IIT was located in Kharagpur, followed by Delhi, Bombay, Kanpur and Madras (Chennai). There are now IITs in the country, in addition to NITs (National Institutes of Technology) and about IIITs (Indian Institutes of Information Technology). In spite of advances, the general perception is that science research in India still has a long way to go to catch up with the more developed countries and China. The research output in theoretical fields is rather disappointing and scanty in spite of the number of research institutions in the country.