8th Five Year Plan commenced on 1992 and carried on till 1997. The basic objective of this period was the modernization of industrial sector. This plan focused on technical development. Through this plan the reduction of deficit and foreign debt was aimed at. The rectification of certain flawed plans and policies were also done under this five year plan. During this period only India received a coveted opportunity to become a member of the World Trade Organization on January 1st 1995.
Agricultural Activities During this Period
Agriculture happens to be the largest contributor to the GDP of India. In fact two third of the work force was dependent on agriculture. Industries also made use of agricultural produce as inputs in their production process.
Self-Sufficiency in Agricultural Production
Self-sufficiency in agricultural production was a top priority during India's eighth Five Year Plan since most of the population depended on that. Production of food increased to 176.22 million from 51 million which was a huge leap in comparison to the previous years.
Compar ive Analysis of the Eighth Five Year Plan
Plan |
Investment as a % of GDP(Target rate) |
Current Account Deficit as % of GDP(Target rate) |
Domestic Savings as a % of GDP(Target rate) |
Foreign Capital Inflow as a % of GDP(Target rate) |
GDP Growth Per Annum(Target rate) |
7 th Plan |
22.7 |
2.4 |
20.3 |
1.6 |
5.8 |
8 th Plan |
23.2 |
1.6 |
21.6 |
1.4 |
5.6 |
From the above table it is clear that the 7th Five Year Plan targeted a GDP growth rate of 5.8% while the 8th Five Year Plan projected a 5.6% growth rate. The achievements show that the GDP shot up to a whopping 6.3% during the 8th Five Year Plan and to 4.3% during the 7th Five Year Plan. Hence the 8th five year plan had overshooted its target. The target set for the current account deficit during the 7th Five Year Plan was fixed at 2.4% while it was set at 1.6% during 8th Five Year Plan .
Results show that the 8th Five Year Plan had been more successful in this regard as the deficit was reduced by 0.7% in the 8th Five Year Plan and by only 0.1% in the 7th Five Year Plan. With regard to domestic savings as a percentage of GDP the 8th Five Year Plan reached 24.4% while in the 7th Year Plan the figure was 20.2%. As far as the contribution of the export earnings is concerned the 8th Year Plan contributed 10.1% to the GDP while the 7th Year Plan contributed 9.9% to the GDP. The import volume as a percentage of GDP was also more during the 8th Five Year Plan (10.9% ) compared to the 7th Five Year Plan (10.3%). In a nutshell the 8th five year Plan was more successful in meeting its objectives as compared to the previous five year plan.