Investment allocation in Indian planning

This book makes a critical appraisal of India's experience of investment planning and its conse quences. It focusses attention on the importance of the investment pattern in Indian economic development rather than on the increase in the size of the overall investment. The study brings out the shortcomings and failures of Investment allocation in Indian planning and throws up a number of important issues and conclusions, all of which would be helpful in any future planning of development outlays. Lack of a comprehensive perspective of 'Development, imprecise statement of the plan's objectives-mix, dispari ties between planned and realised targets, failure to take an integrated view of the sectoral, regional, tempo ral and technological dimensions of the problems of investment alloca tion, imbalances in investment alloc ation as between infrastructure and superstructure and as between the different components of each of these broad groups, the consequences of the chosen heavy industry strategy as against the wage-goods model as the basis for investment allocation, the need for adopting sound investment criteria with a view to evolving an "optimum investment plan" and a plea for a radical change in the allocation strategy and pattern so as to produce a more favourable impact on the chronic problems of poverty, unemployment and inequalities and on the growth rate and modernization of the country's economic structure all these have been admirably highligh ted in the book. Moreover, the book offers material for developing a suitable theory of investment allocation which may be applicable to the complex situations prevalent in developing economies like India, to which the traditional theory of investment, allocation has little relevance.