February 1, 2018
The Union Budget has raised provision for the Ministry of Planning, which is embodied by the NITI Aayog, to US$52.4 million for 2018-19 from US$43.1 million in 2017-18.
The budget envisages a defined role for NITI Aayog in areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and agriculture policy, apart from reiterating a shared vision for national development.
Since its inception in 2015, NITI Aayog has contributed to National Energy Policy, National Medical Strategy, Appraisal of the 12th Five Year Plan, among other initiatives.
NITI Aayog has been involved in on-ground policy interventions through programmes and schemes such as Atal Innovation Mission and National and International Partnerships.
India’s Union Budget for the financial year 2018-19 starting April 1st has raised NITI Aayog’s budgetary allocation by 21 per cent. The NITI Aayog, or the National Institution for Transforming India, is a policy think tank of the Government of India, established with the aim to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and to enhance cooperative federalism by fostering the involvement of State Governments of India in the economic policy-making process using a bottom-up approach. The Union Budget, announced on February 1st by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley, raised the provision for the Ministry of Planning, which is embodied by the NITI Aayog, to US$52.4 million for 2018-19 from US$43.1 million in 2017-18.
The move has cemented NITI Aayog’s role as a driver of transformational change in the country, said India’s Junior Minister for Planning, Rao Inderjit Singh, while highlighting the budget allocations, achievements and programmes of NITI Aayog. Furthermore, the budget envisages a defined role for NITI Aayog in critical areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and agriculture policy, apart from reiterating a shared vision for national development in line with NITI Aayog’s Three Year Action Agenda, the Seven Year Strategy and the 15 Year Vision Document. Since its inception in 2015, NITI Aayog has contributed to National Energy Policy, National Medical Strategy, Appraisal of the 12th Five Year Plan, among others.
The think tank has also been responsible for framing, and rolling out electric vehicle-related policies in the country. NITI Aayog has been directly involved in on-ground policy interventions through various programmes and schemes such as Atal Innovation Mission, Cooperative Federalism Competitive federalism, Sustainable Development Goals, Outcome based evaluation and monitoring and National and International Partnerships, among other initiatives. Going ahead, as India’s socio-economic structure gets more attuned with technology and innovation, NITI Aayog’s importance will further increase.