New Delhi, May 23: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair an significant meeting of the NITI Aayog on Saturday at the Bharat Mandapam in the national capital.

This is the first major talks between the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers of all states after the Indian Armed Forces successfully carried out Operation Sindoor, dismantling nine terrorists camps and their training centres in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir earlier this month avenging the recent horrific Pahalgam terror attack.

According to a statement from NITI Aayog, the meeting underscores the Prime Minister's commitment to work with all states as "Team India" for achieving the goal of a developed Bharat.

"As India progresses towards becoming a developed country, it is essential that states leverage their unique strengths and drive transformative changes at the grassroots, ensuring that the aspirations of 140 crore citizens translate into tangible outcomes on the ground," the statement said.

The meeting, themed 'Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat@2047', aims to foster cooperative federalism and align state-level aspirations with the national goal of making India a developed country by its 100th year of Independence.

The discussion will centre around enabling states to formulate bold, long-term, and inclusive vision documents aligned with national priorities yet rooted in local reality.

States are expected to focus on human development, economic growth, sustainability, technology, and governance reforms, with an emphasis on data-driven and outcome-based strategies. Institutional mechanisms like Project Monitoring Units, ICT-enabled infrastructure, and Monitoring and Evaluation Cells will support accountability and course correction.

The Governing Council meeting serves as a platform for the Centre and States/Union Territories (UTs) to deliberate on development challenges and explore how states can act as the building blocks of a Viksit Bharat.

Topics such as entrepreneurship promotion, enhanced skilling, and sustainable employment generation will also be discussed.

The meeting will also seek to build consensus on the themes of the fourth National Conference of Chief Secretaries, held from December 13 to 15, 2024.

The conference, which saw participation from Secretaries of the Union government and Chief Secretaries of states and UTs, contributed recommendations under the overarching theme of 'Promoting Entrepreneurship, Employment and Skilling—Leveraging the Demographic Dividend'.

Six key thematic areas emerged from the conference:

1. Creating an enabling ecosystem for manufacturing in Tier 2 and 3 cities;

2. Creating an enabling ecosystem for services in Tier 2 and 3 cities;

3. MSME and informal employment in rural non-farm sectors;

4. MSME and informal employment in urban areas;

5. Opportunities in the green economy through renewable energy; and

6. Opportunities in the green economy via circular economy initiatives.

A senior government official noted that the deliberations are also likely to include initiatives from Budget 2025-26 and the prevailing economic challenges.

The official said that the Indian economy, despite headwinds such as reciprocal tariffs from the US and global slowdowns, is expected to grow between 6.2 and 6.7 per cent in the current fiscal.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have revised India's growth projections for 2025-26 downwards to 6.2 per cent and 6.3 per cent respectively, citing global uncertainties and trade tensions.

The Governing Council, the apex decision-making body of NITI Aayog, includes all Chief Ministers, Lieutenant Governors of UTs, and several Union Ministers.

PM Modi, who has chaired the body since its inception, will preside over the meeting.

Notably, 10 states and UTs did not participate in last year's meeting held on July 27.

NITI Aayog is in the process of preparing a consolidated vision document to guide India's journey to becoming a $30 trillion economy by 2047.

Entrusted in 2023 with integrating ten sectoral thematic visions, the document will encompass economic growth, social development, sustainability and governance as key pillars.

(IANS)

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