Parliament committee criticizes NITI Aayog's budget projections

A parliamentary committee has criticized NITI Aayog for its budgeting practices. The committee wants the think tank to improve its accuracy in forecasting expenses and to be more careful with public money. The standing committee on finance, led by BJP member Bhartruhari Mahtab, presented its findings in the Lok Sabha. The report highlighted that NITI Aayog has requested ₹1,006.60 crore for 2025-26. This is a significant increase of 16.77% from the last year's budget of ₹837.26 crore. The committee noted troubling patterns in NITI Aayog's spending over past years. For example, actual spending in FY23 was ₹849.10 crore, while the initial budget estimate was only ₹321.42 crore. Similarly, in FY24, only ₹290.82 crore was spent of the ₹824.39 crore budgeted. The report indicated that in FY25, ₹197.49 crore has been spent in the first three quarters, which is just 23.58% of the allowed budget. The panel urged NITI Aayog to manage funds better and avoid wasting money on unnecessary allocations. They stressed the importance of realistic budgeting, given the country's limited financial resources.