Operations Research was given an impetus in India when Prof P.C. Mahalanobis set up units of the Indian Ststistical Institute to deal with Planning Data. One of the tools used was OR and experts were invited from USSR and USA among other countries to share insights with Planning in their own countires. USSR had already applied Planning since before WWII in 1928, for their 5 year plans, whereas OR was developed duirng WWII by the allies. Russia's initial goal was in developing collective agriculture for food production. India started 5 year Plans for Industrialisation of the country.
OR is now routinely taught in Indian Universities and is a required subject in many disciplines as well as Management