Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting of secretaries of central ministries and departments and directed the country’s top bureaucracy to accelerate governance reforms, improve administrative efficiency and speed up implementation of the government’s long-term development plan under the Vixit Bharat Vision 2047.
The meeting, which was also attended by Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister PK Mishra, Second Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Shaktikanta Das, Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and secretaries from key ministries and departments, was among Modi’s first interactions at the full secretary level for the current financial year.
According to officials familiar with the deliberations, the review aims to align the centre’s administrative machinery with the government’s policy priorities for the second half of 2026, assess progress on key governance initiatives, and identify areas requiring faster implementation.
“The main focus of the discussions was to improve ease of doing business (EoDB) by removing administrative bottlenecks, reducing procedural delays, and simplifying regulatory compliance across sectors. The officials reviewed measures to enhance India’s investment climate through reforms designed to make government operations more efficient and predictable,” said an official, who requested anonymity.
The meeting also discussed initiatives to improve ease of living through citizen-centric governance reforms. The bureaucrats discussed measures to streamline public service delivery, strengthen institutional responsiveness and improve inter-ministerial coordination to ensure faster implementation of government programmes.
Prime Minister Modi also reviewed the progress made under the government’s ambitious Vixit Bharat 2047 roadmap, which seeks to transform India into a developed nation. Officials presented updates on long-term development goals, implementation strategies and coordination between ministries needed to achieve the vision.
“The officials briefed the Prime Minister on the implementation status, reform milestones achieved and pending initiatives across departments. The meeting also focused heavily on integrating next generation technologies into governance. The ministries provided updates on the adoption of artificial intelligence, digital platforms and data-driven decision-making tools aimed at improving operational efficiency, reducing delays and enhancing service delivery,” said a second official privy to the development.
Individual secretaries are understood to have given presentations on their departments’ performance, outlining policy achievements, implementation challenges and progress on reform commitments. The exercise also served as a platform to identify cross-sectoral issues that require coordinated action across multiple departments.
Tuesday’s review comes as the center continues to increase its focus on administrative efficiency, organizational simplification and results-based governance. The government has increasingly focused on measurable reforms, accelerating decision-making, and improving inter-ministerial coordination as it enters the latter half of its current term.
The meeting was also Prime Minister Modi’s second major interaction with the country’s top bureaucracy in less than two months.
On May 21, Modi chaired a joint meeting of union ministers and secretariat-level officials to prepare regulatory roadmaps in line with Vixit Bharat Vision 2047. During this interaction, he called for speeding up the decision-making process, urged officials to ensure transfer of government files without unnecessary delay, and stressed the need for structural reforms to streamline administration.
Describing Bharat 2047 as a long-term national commitment and not just a slogan, Prime Minister Modi asked the ministries to prepare clear implementation strategies and improve inter-departmental coordination.
The May review also included an assessment of the performance of ministries, with lower-ranking departments advised to take corrective measures to improve implementation and results. According to sources, this process was treated as a mid-term review of the government’s overall performance.
In addition, the Prime Minister asked ministers to engage more actively with citizens and communicate the government’s achievements over the past 12 years, stressing that effective governance must be accompanied by greater public awareness and accountability. Tuesday’s meeting built on those priorities, with a renewed focus on implementation, technology-led governance and time-bound reforms across central government.
