Tryst with Prosperity

The story of Indian business remains incomplete without the Bombay PlanThe Tryst with Prosperity is the story of the Bombay Plan which was initiated in 1944. Eight remarkable individuals from the world of industry like J.R.D. Tata Lala Shri Ram and G.D. Birla came together and drafted this plan. The Bombay Plan an economic blueprint promised to double India's per capita income in fifteen years; envisaged a 130 per cent rise in agriculture output; a 500 per cent increase in manufacturing; and a minimum standard of living for every individual. This plan held out the promise of partnership between the Indian state and private enterprise. Yet ironically a decade later these captains of industry fell out with the Nehruvian establishment. Nonetheless the indelible imprint of the Bombay Plan was manifest in the national Five Year Plans and in the economic trajectory of India.Seventy-five years later the Bombay Plan's legacy continues to be unmistakable in the economic life of contemporary India. Rivetingly told business historian Medha M. Kudaisya narrates an important chapter from the story of Indian business. About the Author Medha Kudaisya did her PhD in South Asian history at the University of Cambridge. She is a professor in Department of History Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at National University of Singapore. She has previously publishedThe Life and Times of G.D. Birla.