The National Institution for Transforming India, the Centre's premier policy think tank set up in 2015 to replace the Planning Commission and to drive cooperative and competitive federalism.
- Established by an executive resolution of the Union Cabinet on 1 January 2015; it is neither a constitutional nor a statutory body.
- Chairperson is the Prime Minister; it has a Vice-Chairperson, a Governing Council (all Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors), full-time members, ex-officio members and a Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
- Acts as an advisory think tank: it does not allocate funds to States (a key break from the Planning Commission, which used to approve State plans and disburse funds).
- Runs initiatives such as the Aspirational Districts Programme, the SDG India Index and the Atal Innovation Mission.
- Promotes bottom-up planning and a "team India" approach, with the States as equal partners rather than supplicants.
The 2015 replacement of the Planning Commission, the PM as chairperson and the "no fund allocation" point are standard objective items linking polity and economy.
NITI Aayog is an executive think tank with no power to allocate funds, unlike the Planning Commission it replaced; do not confuse it with the constitutional Finance Commission (Art 280), which does recommend fund devolution.
Executive think tank (2015) replacing the Planning Commission, chaired by the PM, advisory only with no fund allocation.