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Question

The Second Five Year Plan (1956-1961), often associated with the Mahalanobis Model, marked a significant shift in India's development strategy. What was the primary focus of this plan?

This question was previously asked in
SSC CGL 2025 Tier 1 Question Paper (25-Sep-2025) (Shift 3)
The correct answer is

Rapid industrialization with a particular emphasis on the development of basic and heavy industries.

The question asks for the primary focus of India's Second Five Year Plan (1956-1961).

This plan was built on the strategy of statistician P.C. Mahalanobis, and is therefore often called the Mahalanobis model plan.

The Mahalanobis approach argued that lasting growth required first building up the capacity to produce capital goods, that is, the machines and materials that make other goods.

Accordingly, the plan's central aim was rapid industrialization with a particular emphasis on basic and heavy industries such as iron and steel, heavy machinery, coal and power.

The public sector was to take the lead in these core 'commanding heights' industries, so the strategy did not centre on maximizing the private sector's role there.

Export-oriented integration with global markets and immediate food self-sufficiency through the Green Revolution belong to later periods and were not this plan's main thrust.

Therefore the correct answer is Rapid industrialization with a particular emphasis on the development of basic and heavy industries.

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