NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India)

Introduction & Role

• Apex public policy think tank of the Government of India.
• Nodal agency for catalyzing economic development.
• Promotes cooperative federalism (involving State Governments in policy-making via a bottom-up approach) instead of the earlier bargaining/top-down federalism.
• Provides directional and strategic policy inputs to the Centre and States; focuses on long-term vision, innovation, monitoring & evaluation.

Establishment & History

• Established: 1 January 2015 (via Cabinet resolution) by the NDA government under PM Narendra Modi.
• Replaced: Planning Commission (which followed a top-down, “one-size-fits-all” model suited to a command economy).
• Key timeline:
  • 29 May 2014: Independent Evaluation Office recommended replacing the Planning Commission.
  • 13 August 2014: Union Cabinet decided to scrap the Planning Commission.
  • 1 January 2015: Formal announcement and formation of NITI Aayog.
  • 8 February 2015: First meeting chaired by PM Modi.
• Rationale (as stated by the then Finance Minister): Planning Commission had become redundant; India needed a flexible, state-sensitive approach for a diversified, competitive global economy.

Structure & Composition

Chairperson: Prime Minister of India (ex-officio).

Key Bodies:

• Governing Council: Chief Ministers of all States and UTs with legislatures (including Delhi, Puducherry, Jammu & Kashmir) + Lieutenant Governors of other UTs.
• Regional Councils: For addressing inter-state/regional issues.
• Full-time organizational framework + experts/specialists.

Current Leadership (as of 2026):

• Vice Chairperson: Ashok Lahiri (economist; former Chief Economic Adviser).
• CEO: Anurag Jain (IAS).
• Ex-Officio Members: Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
• Special Invitees: Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Virendra Kumar, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Rao Inderjit Singh (and others as notified).
• Full-time Members:
  • Rajiv Gauba (former Cabinet Secretary)
  • K. V. Raju (Economist)
  • Gobardhan Das (Academician & Immunologist)
  • Abhay Karandikar (Academician & Telecom Technocrat)
  • R. Balasubramaniam (Public policy expert)
  • M. Srinivas (Public Health expert)
  • Joram Aniya (Research & Public policy practitioner)

Key Initiatives & Programmes

• NITI Lectures: Transforming India — Series inviting global experts (first lecture by Singapore’s Deputy PM Tharman Shanmugaratnam on “India and the Global Economy”).
• State Statistics Handbook (2017) — Consolidated key statistics for States/UTs.
• IndiaChain — Proposed nationwide blockchain network for e-governance, linked with IndiaStack (Aadhaar backbone); aims at faster contract enforcement, fraud prevention, and efficient subsidy disbursement.
• Job portal — To connect employers with migrant workers who returned home during lockdowns.
• Great Nicobar Islands vision — ₹75,000 crore plan for industrial development (transshipment terminal, greenfield airport, townships, power plants); faced opposition from indigenous communities over displacement and ecological impact.
• Frontier Tech Hub — Workshops on AI-ready data centres (e.g., May 2025 with Deloitte); India generates ~20% of world data but has only ~3% of global data-centre capacity.
• Student Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP) under Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) — Converts Atal Tinkering Lab innovations into marketable products (SEP 1.0 in 2019, SEP 2.0 in 2020 with Dell support).
• NITI Aayog tied up with BYJU'S in September 2021 to provide free learning materials for engineering and medical aspirants across 112 Aspirational Districts.
• Behavioural Insights Unit (NITI-BIU) (launched Nov 2019 with Centre for Social and Behaviour Change & Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation):
  • Uses behavioural science (“nudge”) for better policy design/delivery.
  • Key projects: Navigating the New Normal (COVID behaviours), LiFE Mission (Lifestyle for Environment – Pro-Planet People network), Poshan Gyan (nutrition repository), Jal Jeevan Mission behavioural interventions, Stories of Change, Behaviour Change Report.

Core Philosophy

• Shift from top-down planning to cooperative and competitive federalism.
• Emphasis on evidence-based policy, innovation (AI, blockchain, IoT, big data), sustainable development, and state-specific strengths.
• Acts as a knowledge and innovation hub rather than a fund-allocating body like the old Planning Commission.