Economic policies of Jawaharlal Nehru helped India in a many ways by showing the way towards economic policies. Nehru chaired over the foreword of a customized, Indian version of state planning and control over the economy. Creating the Planning Commission of India, Jawaharlal Nehru drew up the first Five-Year Plan in 1951, which charted the investment of the government in agriculture and industries. Increasing income taxes and business, Nehru envisaged a mixed economy in which the government would run strategic industries like electricity, mining and heavy industries, serving public interest and a check to private enterprise. Nehru followed land redistribution and launched programmes to build irrigation canals, dams and spread the use of fertilizers to increase agricultural production. He also pioneered a series of community development programs aimed at spreading diverse cottage industries and increasing efficiency into rural India. While encouraging the construction of large dams (which Nehru called the "new temples of India"), irrigation works and the generation of hydroelectricity, Nehru also launched India's programme to harness nuclear energy.

Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister of India addressed several issues related to agriculture, economy etc. India would continue to face serious food shortages despite progress and increases in agricultural production. The industrial policies of Nehru summarised in the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956, encouraged the growth of diverse manufacturing and heavy industries, yet state planning, controls and regulations began to impair productivity, quality and profitability. Although the economy of India had a steady growth rate of 2.5 % per annum, chronic unemployment amidst widespread poverty continued to plague the population.

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