The Indian economy was built on the notion of planning from 1947 to 2017. This was carried out through the Planning Commission (1951-2014) and the NITI Aayog's Five-Year Plans, which were established, implemented, and monitored (2015-2017). The commission has a selected deputy chairman who is a cabinet minister, with the prime minister as ex-officio chairman. Montek Singh Ahluwalia is the commission's final deputy chairman (resigned on 26 May 2014).

In March 2017, the Twelfth Plan's period came to an end. Before the Fourth Plan, state resources were selected depending on conceptual principles instead of a fair and accountable process, which resulted in the Gadgil formula's adoption in 1969. Since then, updated versions of the method have been used to provide central aid for state programs.

The new administration of Narendra Modi, who was elected in 2014, has announced the abolition of the Planning Commission, which would be replaced by the NITI Aayog, a think tank (an acronym for National Institution for Transforming India). Under the socialism inspiration of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, India established the First FYP in 1951, shortly after independence.