NDC to approve roadmap to 12th Plan by March

The blueprint for the 12th Five Year Plan beginning April 2012 will be approved by Prime Minister-headed National Development Council (NDC) comprising all Chief Ministers by March, said a Planning Commission Member.

"The process of formulating the 'Approach' paper to the 12th Plan will be completed with NDC approval by March 2011," Planning Commission Member Mihir Shah told PTI.

The next Plan will usher in after six decades of the planned development, which began with Jawaharlal Nehru presenting the first Plan to Parliament on December 8, 1951.

The 'Approach' paper is a kind of roadmap, which defines the priority areas and investment envisaged for them in the five year period.

Infrastructure sectors, including roads, ports, airports, power and railways, will be the priority area for the 12th Plan, which is likely to see huge investment.

An investment of over a trillion dollars may be earmarked for giving boost to the infrastructure sector, crucial for the double digit economic growth, which would be targeted in the five year period (2012-17). In the 11th Plan, an investment of $500 was allocated for it.

The Plans are approved by the NDC, which is the apex policy making body. The Planning Commission started work on the Plan since June this year.

The 12th Plan would start in the back drop of the-annual average economic growth of 8.1 per cent expected in the current Plan.