A plan is a proposed list of goals that an economy wants to achieve within a specific, period of time. It suggests the optimum ways to utilise the scarce resources to achieve the enlisted goals.
In India, planning is done for a period of five years, which is called five year plan. Plans have both specific and general goals.
Some of the common goals are economic growth, modernization, self-reliance and equity.
Plans lay down on the basis of framework over which the policies are designed. Often various goals conflict each other.
For example: Modernization reduces labour employment. So there is a need to maintain a balance among different goals.