India’s policy think tank NITI Aayog is set for a major reset, with the Centre appointing Ashok Lahiri as vice-chairman and reconstituting its top leadership.
An order issued by the Cabinet Secretariat on Friday said all full-time members have been changed except Rajiv Gauba.
The overhaul comes months after the unexpected exit of former CEO B V R Subrahmanyam. The think tank is currently finalising the government’s roadmap to make India a developed nation by 2047.
The new leadership will also steer the upcoming governing council meeting, which includes all chief ministers and is chaired by Narendra Modi.
Lahiri, a former chief economic adviser between 2002 and 2007, has worked under both Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.
Currently an MLA from Balurghat in West Bengal, he is not contesting the ongoing Assembly elections. He has also served as a member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
K V Raju, who is expected to take over agriculture-related responsibilities, has earlier served as economic adviser to the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) is the government’s premier policy think tank, set up in 2015 to replace the Planning Commission. It plays a key role in shaping long-term economic strategy, fostering cooperative federalism by involving states in policy-making, and driving reforms across sectors such as agriculture, health, infrastructure and digital economy. Unlike the Planning Commission, it does not allocate funds but focuses on policy design, monitoring and innovation.
The government has appointed the following as full-time members:
Abhay Karandikar, secretary, Science and Technology
K V Raju, part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister
Gobardhan Das, noted molecular scientist
M Srinivas, director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences
Ex officio members and special invitees remain unchanged.
The new team replaces:
Ramesh Chand (agriculture policy)
Arvind Virmani (trade)
V K Saraswat (science)
V K Paul (health)
