Slums are widespread in a majority of Indian cities. They are clearly an urban phenomenon. Slums are considered by policymakers to be a result of an imbalanced urban growth, and to balance this situation, the government has from time to time launched policies and programmes. In this context, the paper attempts to trace the evolution of policies linked to slums within the framework of general urban policies. In India, urban policies have been implemented as national plans and their objectives have primarily been achieved through the Five Year Plans till 2012. Following a careful examination of the policies, this paper documents the major policy shifts from slum removal to housing projects for slum development in India. It suggests a few policy recommendations that could go a long way in not only designing efficient programmes but ensure that slums are no longer considered as sites of social exclusion in the cities.