<P> Indian economic policy after independence was influenced by the colonial experience ( which was seen by Indian leaders as exploitative in nature ) and by those leaders ' exposure to Fabian socialism . Policy tended towards protectionism , with a strong emphasis on import substitution industrialization under state monitoring , state intervention at the micro level in all businesses especially in labour and financial markets , a large public sector , business regulation , and central planning . Five - Year Plans of India resembled central planning in the Soviet Union . Steel , mining , machine tools , water , telecommunications , insurance , and electrical plants , among other industries , were effectively nationalised in the mid-1950s . Elaborate licences , regulations and the accompanying red tape , commonly referred to as Licence Raj , were required to set up business in India between 1947 and 1990 . </P>
which type of import policy was adopted before economic reforms in india
import substitution industrialization under state monitoring