Kerala’s 15th five-year plan will be a ‘living document’, says planning board vice-chairman KM Chandrasekhar

The Keralam State Planning Board envisions the state’s 15th five-year plan covering 2027-2032 as a “living document” that is “specific, measurable, achievable, results-oriented and time-bound,” said board vice-chairman KM Chandrasekhar.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Chandrasekhar, who is a former cabinet secretary, said the plan would be built on a “smart model” that would focus on a higher growth trajectory for the state and focus on addressing critical issues facing the state such as the unemployment rate. Work on the plan has begun and the Planning Board hopes to have it completed by mid-2027, he said. The access document to the 15th plan document will be released long before.

“Work on the 15th plan has started. We are holding meetings at the district level. We are collecting all the necessary data. We have also done a lot of work on the approach document. Now we have to place it before the full board. Then we will publish it for opinions. If it integrates something into our structure, we will do it,” he said.

Roping at IIM-K

The Planning Board has engaged the Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode (IIM-Kozhikode) as the lead consultant for the work, he said. Through an Oct. 3 announcement, the board also called on consulting firms, think tanks, research institutions and other professional organizations to provide “specialized professional, research and technical support” to develop the plan.

Five Year Plans of Kerala serve as the main frameworks for government departments to design specific policies and programmes. Annual plans are formulated each year in accordance with the five-year plan.

Resource mobilization problem

Resource mobilization, as stated by Mr. Chandrasekhar, will be a major challenge during the 15th Plan period, just as it was during the 14th Plan period. It may be recalled that the White Paper on State Fiscal Health, tabled by Chief Minister VD Satheesan in the State Assembly in June, stated that Kerala’s fiscal structure “is under serious and increasing pressure”. The 14th Five-Year Plan (2022–2027) document stated that mobilizing resources for the five-year period would be a “challenging task”.

Referring to the 15th Plan period, Mr. Chandrasekhar observed that Kerala was “desperately short of money”. “We’re going to have to be very clear about what we’re doing. Government can only raise so much money. So we have to raise money from anywhere; whether it’s the private sector or local authorities, banks or cooperatives. We’re going to have to raise money for investment; not for government, but for investment,” he said.

“Smart Model”

Mr. Chandrasekhar said the 15th Plan will be entirely based on a “smart model” that is specific, measurable, achievable, result-oriented and time-bound. “We will not make it a simple written document or a ‘dead’ document. Each project will have to have objectives and a time frame. And we will also create a mechanism to monitor it regularly,” he said.

Published – 06 Oct 2026 07:00 IST