The Bombay Plan and Indian Economic Development

The signatories of the Bombay Plan were J. R. D. Tata, Ghanshyam Das Birla, Ardeshir Dalal, Lala Shri Ram, Kasturbhai Lalbhai, Ardeshir Darabshaw Shroff, Sir Purshottamdas Thakurdas, and John Mathai. The first edition was published in January 1944, and the second edition, published in 2 volumes, was released in 1945 under the editorship of Purushottamdas Thakurdas.

The Bombay Plan was a set of import substitution industrialization-based proposals for the development of the post-independence economy of India, proposed by leading Indian industrialists to guide the economic development of the nation after independence from the United Kingdom. It proposed state intervention and had a substantial influence on the subsequently interventionist state and public sector of the Indian economy.

Jawaharlal Nehru did not officially accept the plan, but the subsequent Nehruvian era witnessed the implementation of a substantially interventionist state and an economy with a sizeable public sector, effectively reflecting the principles of the Bombay Plan.

The Bombay Plan had a substantial influence on the subsequently interventionist state and public sector of the Indian economy, effectively shaping the economic policies and development strategies of the post-independence era, despite not being officially accepted by the government.

The perceived influence of the Bombay Plan has given it iconic status in Indian historiography, and it is considered to occupy something of a mythic position due to its significant impact on the economic development of India.