Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, June 11, 2026, chaired the 11th meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog in New Delhi, bringing together Chief Ministers of all states and Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories to advance India's development agenda through the framework of cooperative federalism.

Posting on X, the Prime Minister said the meeting was 'guided by the spirit of cooperative federalism' and that 'the collective efforts of the Centre and States will play a pivotal role in realising our shared' development goals. The post was accompanied by four images from the meeting.

Context

NITI Aayog's Governing Council is the apex body of the institution, comprising the Prime Minister as Chairperson, Chief Ministers of all states, and Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories. It serves as the highest platform for Centre-State dialogue on national development priorities. The 11th meeting marks a continuation of a series of high-level deliberations that began with the council's first sitting in February 2015.

Policy Backdrop

NITI Aayog — the National Institution for Transforming India — was constituted in January 2015 to replace the erstwhile Planning Commission, which had operated on a top-down model of resource allocation and planning. The transition was designed to institutionalise cooperative federalism, giving states a more active role in shaping national policy rather than being passive recipients of centrally determined plans.

Since 2014, the central government has consistently positioned NITI Aayog as the primary platform for aligning Centre and state priorities across sectors including infrastructure, health, agriculture, and social welfare. Regular Governing Council meetings have been used to set shared goals and review implementation progress across these domains.

Stakeholders and Impact

The Governing Council's deliberations directly affect state governments and central ministries, whose budgetary priorities and scheme rollouts are shaped by the outcomes of these meetings. For states, participation in the council provides a formal channel to raise region-specific concerns and negotiate development priorities at the highest level of government.

The cooperative federalism model championed through NITI Aayog has practical consequences for millions of citizens, as Centre-State coordination determines the pace and reach of flagship programmes in areas ranging from rural development to urban infrastructure. Alignment between central and state governments is considered essential for meeting India's broader economic and social development targets.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to follow-up actions emerging from the 11th Governing Council meeting and how its decisions are reflected in state budgets and the design of central schemes in the coming months. Observers will also watch for any new policy indices, reform templates, or inter-state benchmarking frameworks that NITI Aayog may release in the wake of the meeting. The next scheduled Governing Council sitting and any formal communiqué from the June 11 session will be closely tracked by state administrations and policy analysts alike.