The objectives of the Ninth Plan (1997-2002) include : (i) priority to agriculture and rural develop­ment with a view to generating adequate productive employment and eradication of poverty; (ii) acceler­ating the growth rate of the economy with stable prices;

(iii) ensuring food and nutritional security for all, particularly the vulnerable sections of society; (iv) providing the basic minimum services of safe drinking water, primary health care facilities, uni­versal primary education, shelter and connectivity to all in a time bound manner; (v) containing the growth rate of population; (vi) ensuring environ­mental sustainability of the development process through social mobilization and participation of people at all levels; (vii) empowerment of women and socially disadvantaged groups such as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes and minorities as agents of socio-economic change and development; (viii) promoting and developing people’s participatory institutions like Panchayati Raj institutions, co-operatives and self-help groups; and (ix) strengthening efforts to build self-reliance.

The Ninth Plan will also stress the crucial impor­tance of sound foreign trade and investment policies in order to promote rapid and sustained export growth. To enable best use of the existing infrastructural facilities, the Ninth Plan will operationalise policies through technology up gradation, system improve­ment and viable pricing policies for most of the public utilities. The Ninth Plan has fixed up a growth rate of seven per cent per annum of GDP. The main focus of the Plan is on: “Growth with social justice and equality.”