The First Five Year Plan (1951 -56) aimed getting the country out of the cycle of poverty. Its thrust was on agrarian sector including investment in dams because the agricultural sector was hit hardest by Partition and needed immediate attention.
(i) Huge allocations were made for large-scale projects like the Bhakhra-Nangal Dam.

(ii)The Plan identified the patterns of land distribution in the country as the principal obstacle in the way of agricultural growth.

(iii)So it focused on land reforms as the key to the country’s development.

The Second Five Year Plan differed from the first plan in the following ways:

(i)The Second Five Year Plan stressed on heavy industries in place of agriculture.

(ii)If First Five Year Plan had preached patience, the Second Plan wanted to bring about quick structural transformation by making changes simultaneously in all possible directions.

(iii) The push for industrialisation marked a turning point in India’s development in the Second Five Year Plan.