Discuss the role of NITI Aayog in operationalising the Viksit Bharat @2047 vision at the sub-state level.

Replacing the Planning Commission in 2015, NITI Aayog functions as India's apex think-tank and cooperative-federalism platform [4]. Its distinctive role is translating the Viksit Bharat @2047 goal into actionable targets cascading down to the state, district and village.

Cascading the vision downward

• Framed the Approach Paper for the Viksit Bharat @2047 Vision Document at the 9th Governing Council Meeting (2024), setting the national frame [3].
• Prompted every State to draft a "Viksit Rajya" vision document aligned to national priorities yet "grounded in local realities" (10th GCM, 2025) [2].
• At the 11th GCM (2026), pushed the vision to district, block and village granularity, making sub-state units the unit of planning [1].

Grassroots sectoral levers

• One District One Product (ODOP) and MSME clusters to build export strategies around local strengths [1].
• Converting the demographic dividend into a development dividend via state-led skilling; defence manufacturing and FTA-linked investment localisation [1].

Platform, not command

• Runs the Governing Council as a "Team India" forum where States are co-architects, not grantees [4].
• Being an executive body, its role is advisory and catalytic; delivery hinges on State fiscal and administrative capacity [4].

By threading a single national vision through State vision documents down to the village, NITI Aayog institutionalises bottom-up cooperative federalism. Strengthening this with outcome-linked monitoring and capacity support to weaker States can make Viksit Bharat @2047 a genuinely shared, sub-nationally owned mission.