11th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog

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The Prime Minister chaired the 11th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog. He highlighted that India continues to grow steadily despite global instability.
In a major step for cooperative federalism, all 28 States and 5 Union Territories participated in the meeting. Chief Ministers from every State attended together for the first time since the Council's inception.

The theme for the meeting was “Inclusive Human Development for Viksit Bharat @2047.” It focused on inclusive growth, demographic advantage, women-led development, and global economic integration through Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
To empower women, the government aims to increase the number of Lakhpati Didis from 3 crore to 6 crore. It also emphasized ensuring a safe environment for women under Nari Shakti.
The Prime Minister urged states to build export strategies around the One District One Product (ODOP) initiative. States should also create policies to support the growing defence manufacturing sector.
States were asked to improve infrastructure and branding for data centers and Artificial Intelligence (AI). They should treat AI as an economic opportunity and train their people in these skills.
The meeting addressed concerns about El Niño and urged strict water conservation. It also promoted natural and organic farming across the country.
The Prime Minister suggested selecting 100 specific aspirational districts in agriculture to drive targeted and fast improvements.
States were asked to generate district-level GDP metrics to identify and solve economic problems at the local level.
The Prime Minister urged states to speed up the resolution of investor grievances. This will help attract more foreign direct investment from partner countries.

NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) was established on 1st January 2015. It replaced the old Planning Commission to work as a government think tank using a bottom-up collaborative framework.
The Council includes the Prime Minister of India, Chief Ministers of all States, Chief Ministers of Union Territories with Legislatures, Lieutenant Governors of other UTs, and NITI Aayog members.
The Governing Council Secretariat (GCS) acts as the central coordinating body. It prepares meeting agendas, takes notes, and follows up with ministries to create Action Taken Reports.
The Council supports cooperative federalism through dialogues and dispute resolution. It also promotes competitive federalism by ranking state performance on development parameters.
The Council aligns state execution plans with macroeconomic goals to achieve the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.
The Regional Councils are temporary bodies created by the Prime Minister to solve localized problems affecting a group of neighboring states.