Niti Aayog: True Heir to Planning Commission or a Talking Shop?
Tenth Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog in New Delhi (Image Niti Aayog)
Niti Aayog Marks a Decade as India’s Top Policy Think Tank but Leaves Serious Policy Gaps
By MANISH ANAND
NEW DELHI, May 27, 2025 – Over the past decade, Niti Aayog has briefly stepped into the national spotlight each year during its Governing Council meeting in the capital. However, the think tank is increasingly seen as having shifted its goalposts in defining its role in national policy deliberations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the 10th Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, lauded the body for completing a decade of policy advocacy and support in shaping India’s development agenda.
Niti’s Key Achievement: Drafting Vision Documents
Addressing the media after the Governing Council meeting at the National Media Centre, Niti Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam emphasized the panel’s efforts in encouraging states to prepare long-term vision documents.
“The Prime Minister had urged states during the 9th Governing Council meeting to draft vision documents. Six states have already done so, and others will soon unveil their economic roadmaps for 2030 and 2047,” said Subrahmanyam.
These state-level vision documents align with Niti Aayog’s broader plan to transform India into a developed nation by 2047—a central theme of the Central government’s “Viksit Bharat” agenda, which also forms a key part of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) electoral platform.
Embracing ‘Nudge Theory’ Over Monitoring
Lacking financial authority, Niti Aayog has leaned heavily on the “nudge theory” to influence policy decisions. Unlike the erstwhile Planning Commission, it does not have the power to monitor or review budgetary expenditures by state governments.
As a result, state governments often pay little attention to its recommendations, particularly when they concern politically sensitive reforms such as agricultural marketing, labor laws, or bureaucratic restructuring. Many of the think tank’s advocacy efforts in these areas have failed to yield significant action.
Shifting Focus and Abandoning Initiatives Midway
Over the past ten years, Niti Aayog has launched several high-profile panels and policy initiatives, many of which have faded into obscurity. These committees, often chaired by chief ministers, have either delayed submitting reports or quietly abandoned their objectives.
One early example was a panel on promoting a cashless economy, headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. That report has since been forgotten. Similarly, a panel led by then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on integrating agriculture with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has seen little follow-up.
Even a much-anticipated report on employment by former Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya—submitted to the Prime Minister—has failed to spark discussion or policy action.
Niti Aayog Leaves Policy Gaps
As policy monitoring has receded, Niti Aayog is also no longer seen as a source of rigorous policy appraisals. The last such report to gain national traction was authored by Bibek Debroy (who recently passed away), which advocated the merger of railway cadres to address operational inefficiencies.
With its critical role in policy evaluation and monitoring diminished, the think tank increasingly appears to serve as a polite advisor rather than a decisive reform driver. It also faces criticism for failing to produce substantial research on pressing national challenges, with many policy ideas now originating outside the institution.
(This is an opinion piece; the views expressed are solely those of the author.)
Niti Aayog Governing Council Meeting: Politics and Policy Align
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