ABSTRACT

Post Independence, India adopted a centralized planning system – 5 year plans that laid down
how the resources of the country were to be used in the coming 5 years. During the initial 5
year plans, the primary focus was on achieving the Industrial and Economic development. In
1956, Industrial Policy Resolution was passed wherein all the industries of the country were
classified into 3 categories – Schedule A; Schedule B and Schedule C industries. The
government was primarily responsible for the pattern of industrial development. Most of the
laws and policies that were passed during that time were based on the Principle of Command-
and-Control. During the reign of Indira Gandhi, there was a reign of socialism that ran
through the country. Big Businesses began to be treated with suspicion. The government
therefore appointed a series of committees all aimed at formulating a mechanism to check the
concentration of power in the hands of few. MRTP Act came into force on 1 June 1970. The
law was enacted with the sole purpose of – “Achieving the highest possible production with
least damage to people at large while securing maximum benefit”