Bombay plan

Contemporary Issues and Ideas in Social Sciences
June 2010

The Curious Case of the Bombay Plan
Amal Sanyal1
Abstract

‘Bombay Plan’, authored by a group of Indian industrialists and technocrats in 1944, was meant as a fifteen year investment plan for India. The strategy of the government’s five year plans after independence was very similar to the Bombay Plan’s. First three five year plans had almost the same sectoral outlay pattern and together they can be described as a scaled down version of the Bombay Plan. The Plan remained at the centre of news and interest for more than a year. But thereafter it was as completely forgotten as it was at the centre of interest previously. This paper discusses the background and making of the plan, compares it with the official five year plans and discusses the probable reasons of its exile into oblivion.

Keywords: Bombay Plan, India’s Five Year Plans, Indian Business, Indian
National Congress, Communist Party of India, J. R. D Tata, G. D. Birla.

JEL Classification: N, O2.

1

The author gratefully acknowledges research assistance from Rajiv Jha. Address for

correspondence: Lincoln University, New Zealand. Email: [e-mail]

2

CIISS June 2010

1

Introduction

‘Bombay Plan’ is the nickname of a fifteen year economic plan for India proposed by a group of industrialists and technocrats in January 1944. Initially it was released for private circulation only. Soon afterwards, the Plan was published as a pamphlet in response to the interest generated by it2 .
Demand led to a number of reprints within the first few months; the document was also translated into a number of languages during this period.
Within a few weeks of publication Lord Wavell, the Viceroy of India mentioned it as containing a useful and novel approach to the country’s economic problems3 , and Jeremy Raisman the Finance Member welcomed it though doubting some of its financial assumptions (Lokanathan, 1945). By

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