Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog

He is widely credited with transforming Kerala from a backpacker destination to a high-end tourist hub. It was the success of the ‘God’s Own Country’ campaign that pitch-forked him into the national scheme of things. He played a pivotal role in bringing professionalism to tourism campaigns—including ‘Incredible India’—by hiring advertising hotshots to work for the Government. Soon, he earned a name as a go-getter bureaucrat who could cut red tape and think out of the box.

He would later become secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion and also steer a few other global campaigns, including ‘Make in India’ and ‘Start-up India’. An alumnus of St Stephen’s College and JNU who has helped initiate smart cities in India, Kant is currently CEO of NITI Aayog, a job for which he was handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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Amitabh KantKeralaNarendra ModiNITI Aayogplanningtourism