Post the creation of NITI Aayog, while the traditional model of centralized planning has transformed, the principles and objectives behind planning remain significant. Developmental planning involves the systematic use of national resources, both human and material, to achieve specific objectives within a specified period. The relevance and prospects of developmental planning in India can be analyzed in the following aspects:

• Globalization and liberalization: The opening up of the economy to foreign investment and competition has led to a reorientation of the planning process, with a greater emphasis on market-driven growth and private sector participation. This has also raised concerns about the potential erosion of the state’s role in promoting social welfare and addressing inequalities.
• Policy Coordination and Implementation: In a vast and diverse country like India, effective planning facilitates coordination between various levels of government and sectors. Planning helps in aligning central and state policies, ensuring effective implementation of development programs.
• Regional disparities: Developmental planning in India has also grappled with the challenge of regional disparities in terms of economic growth and social indicators. The uneven distribution of resources, infrastructure, and investment has led to significant differences in the levels of development across various states and regions in the country. Developmental planning has attempted to address these disparities through special packages and schemes for the backward regions, as well as by promoting balanced regional development.
• Social justice and equity: One of the primary objectives of developmental planning in India has been to promote social justice and equity. This involves addressing the deeply entrenched social hierarchies and inequalities that exist in Indian society, particularly those based on caste, class, and gender. Developmental planning has sought to create opportunities for the marginalized sections of society through affirmative action policies, such as reservations in education and employment, and targeted welfare schemes for the upliftment of the poor and disadvantaged.
• Strategic Vision and Long-term Goals: Planning remains crucial for setting long-term national goals. Currently, NITI Aayog formulates strategic and long-term policies, ensuring that the country’s development trajectory aligns with global trends and national priorities.
• Sustainable development: In recent years, the focus of developmental planning in India has shifted towards sustainable development, which emphasizes the need to balance economic growth with environmental protection and social equity. This has led to the incorporation of environmental concerns and social inclusion in the planning process, as well as the adoption of a more participatory approach involving local communities and stakeholders in decision-making.
• Resilience: Centralized planning also becomes important in times of crisis like the recent Covid-19 pandemic. Data drive decision making is useful to ensure optimum use of resources.
• Innovation and Competitiveness: Planning also encourages innovation and competitiveness by identifying key sectors for growth and investment. The government then can have policies that promote startups, digital economy, etc.

Indian Planning scheme requires a transformational approach to deal with contemporary challenges. It needs new methods to speed up ‘organisational learning’ amongst stakeholders in the system who must make plans together and implement them together. Thus, it is not good enough to have a plan, there must also be a strategy for its cooperative implementation too.