Requiem for an Institution: The End of the Indian Planning Commission

The Indian Government’s decision to dissolve the Central Planning Commission in August 2014 marks an important watershed for India’s current government. While the idea of economic planning had some of its origins in the late colonial period, the Planning Commission was set up in 1950 with the first national five-year plan launched in 1951. Until the period of economic liberalization that began in the early 1990s, the Planning Commission prepared five-year plans and controlled planned expenditure.

This IMFG Forum paper brings together three commentaries presented at an event called “The Sun Sets Over the Planning Commission: Where is India’s Economic Policy Headed?” The three contributions examine the pros and cons of the replacement of the Planning Commission by the newly established National Institution for Transforming India Aayog and its implications for India’s development policies.