The Planning Commission is an institution in the Government of India, which formulates India's Five-Year Plans, among other functions.

Rudimentary economic planning, deriving the sovereign authority of the state, first began in India in 1930s under the British Raj, and the colonial government of India formally established a planning board that functioned from 1944 to 1946. Private industrialists and economist formulated at least three development plans in 1944.

After India gained independence, a formal model of planning was adopted, and the planning commission, reporting directly to the Prime Minister of India was established. Accordingly, the Planning Commission was set up on 15 March 1950, with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as the chairman. Planning Commission though is a non statutory as well extra constitutional body, i.e. has been brought by an executive order.

The first Five-year Plan was launched in 1951 and two subsequent five-year plans were formulated till 1965, when there was a break because of the Indo-Pakistan Conflict. Two successive years of drought, devaluation of the currency, a general rise in prices and erosion of resources disrupted the planning process and after three Annual Plans between 1966 and 1969, the fourth Five-year plan was started in 1969.

India (ⁱ/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.

Planning Commission may refer to:

Montek Singh Ahluwalia (born 24 November 1943) is an Indian economist and civil servant. He is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of the Republic of India. He was previously the first Director of the Independent Evaluation Office at the International Monetary Fund.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia was born in New Delhi, India. He studied at St. Patrick's High School, Secunderabad, Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, and Bishop Cotton School Shimla, then graduated with a B.A. (Hons) degree from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, University of Delhi. He received the BA(Hons) degree as a Rhodes scholar from the University of Oxford having studied at Magdalen College, Oxford. He also studied for a BPhil in Economics at Oxford University, which the university later reclassified as an MPhil. While at Oxford, he was the president of the prestigious Oxford Union.The 164-year-old Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, conferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) on Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, at the 11th Convocation Ceremony of the institute held on 12 November 2011 at IIT Roorkee.

Arun Maira (born 15 August 1943) is a former management consultant and present member of Plannning Commission of India. He is also Former India Chairman of Boston Consulting Group.

Arun Maira was born in Lahore. He received his M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Physics from St Stephen's College, Delhi University.

Arun Maira was part of Tata Administrative Services for 25 years and worked at various important positions in Tata Group till 1989. He was board member of Tata Motors from 1981 to 1989. After this he worked with Arthur D. Little for 10 years where he was Leader of Global Organisation Practice and Managing Director of Innovation Associates, a subsidiary of Arthur D. Little. In 2000 Arun Maira returned to India and had held the position of chairman of Boston Consulting Group in India till April 2008.

After coming back to India in 2000 and prior to joining Planning Commission of India, Arun Maira has been on the boards of several companies which are listed below:

Arun Maira has been member of The Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) National Council for many years. He has also been Chairman of several of CII’s National Councils, including the National Council for Corporate Governance, and Chairman of CII’s Leadership Summit.