Modi chairs first NITI Ayog meet

In his opening remarks, the Prime Minister noted that one of the objectives of NITI Aayog was to establish a dynamic institutional mechanism where eminent individuals outside the Government system could contribute to policy making.

Setting the tone for the interaction, Modi  emphasized on the need for cooperative federalism, and added that he favoured healthy competition for development among states.

He said India must develop fast, taking advantage of current global environment, to meet the aspirations of the people. The Prime Minister spoke of the Government`s recent initiatives, including the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, direct cash transfer of LPG subsidy, and Swachh Bharat.

The PM  said he looked forward to the interaction and suggestions from the eminent gathering.

Finance Minister  Arun Jaitley and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog  Arvind Panagariya also made brief opening remarks.

The economists present at the interaction were  Vijay Kelkar, Nitin Desai,  Bimal Jalan,  Rajiv Lall, R. Vaidyanathan, Subir Gokarn, Parthasarathi Shome,  P. Balakrishnan, Rajiv Kumar, Ashok Gulati, Mukesh Butani and G.N. Bajpai.

The economists emphasized on the need for the Government to work towards high growth, predictable tax regime, fiscal prudence and rapid infrastructure development.

A large number of other suggestions were also made on various sectors of the economy.

Bibek Debroy and  V.K. Saraswat, Members and CEO, NITI Aayog attended the meeting.

The Cabinet Secretary, Secretaries of Ministry of Finance, Chief Economic Adviser and other senior officers of the PMO and NITI Aayog were also present.