The Planning Commission was a non-constitutional and non-statutory institution of the Government of India, established by a Cabinet resolution on March 15, 1950. Its creation, with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as its first Chairman, was intended to promote a rapid rise in the standard of living by efficiently exploiting the country's resources, boosting production, and offering employment opportunities. The idea of economic planning had roots in the National Planning Committee set up in 1938.
The core mechanism of the Commission was the formulation of India's Five-Year Plans, which guided the country's economic and social development. Its functions included assessing material, capital, and human resources, formulating plans for the most effective resource utilization, defining stages of implementation, and allocating resources across various sectors. The Commission was closely connected to the National Development Council (NDC), established in August 1952, which used to consider and review the National Plan prepared by the Commission.
The institution underwent a significant change when it was dissolved and replaced by the NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) on January 1, 2015, following an announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. The Planning Commission followed a centralized, top-down approach to planning, whereas the superseding NITI Aayog was established as a policy think tank to foster cooperative federalism and a bottom-up approach. The Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2012-17) was the last plan formulated under the Planning Commission's structure.