From G20 to Startup India: The Legacy Of Longest Serving Ex-Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant

After 45 years of stellar goverment service filled with monumental contributions, former Niti Aayog Chief and G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant stepped down from this to ignite a fresh chapter in his life.

As the former longest-serving NITI Aayog CEO, Kant laid the “foundations for India’s digital public infrastructure and pushed policy reforms across sectors—ranging from manufacturing through PLI schemes to innovation through the Atal Innovation Mission and sustainability through the Green Hydrogen Mission and Advanced Chemistry Cells. These efforts positioned India as a leader in innovation and climate action, ”according to his Linkedln post.

Kant was NITI Aayog’s CEO for over six years from February 2016 to June 2022, before being appointed India’s G20 Sherpa in July 2022, succeeding Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. His notewoworthy earlier roles were Secretary of the Department for Industrial Policy and Promotion (2014–16) and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism (2001–07).

Also Read: Meet Amitabh Kant: The IAS Officer Behind Make In India

Amitabh Kant: The G20 Sherpa Credited For Start up India Initiative

His role as the G20 sherpa was considered another significant milestone in his over four-decade long career.

Kant said,"Despite complex global challenges, we achieved unanimous consensus on the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration, and refocused attention on key developmental issues,” Kant’s LinkedIn post said. “We also successfully ensured the inclusion of the African Union in the G20, fulfilling India’s commitment to global equity and the voice of the Global South."

Further, he's been credited to have led initiatives such as ‘Incredible India’, ‘Start up India’, and ‘God’s Own Country’ to success, earning him the reputation of India's most influential policymakers.

Hailed by several as a master reformist, he is also considered as someone to have played a key role in making digital payments popular in the country.

Niti Aayog also credits him for conceptualising the “‘Atithi Devo Bhavah’ campaign to train taxi drivers, guides, and immigration officials as stakeholders in the tourism development process”.

Notably, Kant had chaired the Empowered Group 3 -- groups constituted by the Centre to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic spread.

That apart, he has helmed various other national-level initiatives such as Asset Monetization, National Mission for Transformative Mobility, among others.

The former NITI Aayog CEO announced via social media that he will now direct his focus towards with startups, think tanks, and academic institutions in an indiviual capacity.