Examine the role of NITI Aayog as a platform for articulating and coordinating state-specific economic growth visions in India's federal structure.

NITI Aayog, which replaced the Planning Commission in 2015, is a non-statutory advisory body whose Governing Council seats every Chief Minister alongside the Prime Minister [5]. It has become India's principal forum for articulating state growth visions, though its power to coordinate them remains persuasive rather than financial.

As a platform for articulating state visions

• The 11th Governing Council meeting (11 June 2026), themed "Inclusive Human Development for Viksit Bharat@2047", saw Chief Ministers of all 28 States and 5 UTs participate — the first such full attendance — giving States a national stage to place their own decade-long growth targets on record [1].
• The Viksit Rajya@2047 exercise has translated this into documents: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura released State vision plans in 2025-26, with Assam, Bihar, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh underway [2].
• State-specific diagnostics — such as NITI's Macro and Fiscal Landscape of Tamil Nadu, noting the State's rise to 8.8% of national GDP and per capita income 60% above the national average — ground ambition in evidence [3].

As a coordinating mechanism

• The State Support Mission assigns each State a Member/CEO and nodal officer as a single-point interface; 32 State visits were made in 2025-26, harmonising Central and State priorities [2].
• The Prime Minister urged States to build district-level GDP estimates and adopt 100-day, five-year and ten-year goals — converting aspiration into a monitorable path [1].
• Competitive federalism through indices (SDG India Index, Aspirational Districts) supplements persuasion with peer pressure [5].

Limits of the platform

• Unlike the Planning Commission, NITI allocates no funds; vision statements carry no resources.
• State fiscal space constrains delivery: Tamil Nadu's 2026-27 revenue expenditure (₹4.06 lakh crore) exceeds revenue receipts (₹3.50 lakh crore), leaving capital outlay at only ₹56,985 crore [4].
• Annual Council meetings cannot substitute for continuous, institutionalised Centre-State consultation.

NITI Aayog has genuinely democratised vision-setting, shifting planning from Delhi's directives to States' own articulations. Its next step should be publishing year-by-year, monitorable growth paths for each State vision, backed by convergence with Finance Commission transfers — so that cooperative federalism delivers not merely shared ambition, but shared accountability for Viksit Bharat@2047.