India Maintains Fastest Growth Among Major Economies Amid Global Slowdown
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 11th NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting on June 11, 2026, with chief ministers from all 28 states attending — a rare full-house participation not seen in recent years. The meeting, themed 'Inclusive Human Development for Viksit Bharat@2047,' focused on cooperative federalism, youth skilling, women-led development, free trade agreements, and emerging sectors like AI and defence manufacturing. The full attendance, including all seven opposition-ruled states, marks a notable shift from years of boycotts and signals broader political consensus around India's development agenda.
The 11th NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting, held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre in New Delhi, achieved a historic milestone as chief ministers from all 28 states participated, including those from all seven opposition-ruled states such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. This stands in sharp contrast to previous years, when as many as 10 chief ministers were absent in 2024 and nine in 2023, often due to political differences with the Centre. PM Modi used the occasion to highlight India's resilience amid global economic headwinds, noting that the World Bank projects India's GDP growth at 6.6% for fiscal year 2026-27, making it the world's fastest-growing major economy even as global growth slows to 2.5% — its weakest since the Covid-19 pandemic — partly due to the Middle East conflict disrupting energy markets. Modi emphasised leveraging recently signed free trade agreements to boost MSMEs and exports, called for transforming India's demographic dividend of nearly 700 million people under 25 into a development dividend through education and skilling, and urged states to scale up women-led development initiatives including doubling the number of Lakhpati Didis from 3 crore to 6 crore. He also flagged emerging priorities including defence manufacturing, data centres, artificial intelligence, water conservation amid El Niño conditions, and district-level aspirational development frameworks. Following the meeting, the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, and Jammu and Kashmir held individual meetings with the Prime Minister.
What's missing
The sources do not explain what specific commitments or outcomes, if any, were agreed upon by the Centre and states at the meeting. The reasons why opposition chief ministers chose to attend this year — after years of boycotts — are not addressed.
How coverage differed
Most outlets reported the meeting's substance and the full-attendance milestone in broadly similar terms. India Today and Moneycontrol placed greater emphasis on the political significance of opposition chief ministers' attendance and the historical pattern of boycotts, framing it as a political story, while The Hindu and NDTV focused more on the policy substance of PM Modi's address and the cooperative federalism theme.
What different sources said
- NDTVCenter
"States Play Vital Role In National Progress": PM Modi At NITI Aayog Meet
- India TodayCenter
Rare full house at NITI Aayog as all 28 CMs join PM Modi-led meeting
- Times of IndiaCenter
India retains growth edge with 6.6% growth, World Bank forecasts; cuts global outlook
- The HinduCenter
India continues to move forward on its growth trajectory amid global uncertainty: PM Modi at NITI Aayog meeting
- Moneycontrol.comCenter
PM Modi-led NITI Aayog meet breaks past trend of boycotts with full CM attendance
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