The Planning Commission was an institution in the government of India, which formulated India's five year plans, among other functions. The Planning Commission has announced an average GDP growth target of 8 percent for the Twelfth Five Year Plan period which runs from 2012-13 to 2016-17. While it is not as high as the 9 percent envisioned over a year back, it has not been dragged down to the sub-7 percent levels which some allude to as the ‘new potential’ of the economy. With the 8 percent target, the Commission seems to strike a balance between the current and the aspirational. In his first Independence Day speech in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his intention to dissolve the Planning Commission. It has since been replaced by a new institution named NITI Aayog. The National Institution for Transforming India, also called NITI Aayog, was formed via a decision of the Union Cabinet on January 1, 2015. NITI Aayog is the prime minister policy ‘Think Tank’ of the Government of India, providing both directional and policy inputs. While designing strategic and long term policies and programmes for the Government of India, NITI Aayog also provides related scientific suggestion to the Centre and States.