The State Planning Board was first constituted in September, 1967 with Chief Minister Sri E M S Namboothiripad as its Chairperson. Four non-officials and four officials were nominated as Members. The constitution of the Board was as follows.

The Board was constituted for the formulation and evaluation of the State’s Plan programmes on a scientific basis. The Bureau of Economics and Statistics rendered research, library, and administration facilities to Planning Board. Vice Chairperson and non-Official Members were full time. The Board was assigned the task of preparing the Annual Economic Review. Another work undertook by the Board was the preparation of the draft Fourth Five-Year Plan for the State. With a view to initiate national debate on alternative policies which formed the basis for the formulation of the Fourth Five-Year Plan, the Planning Board convened a Seminar in October, 1968. The papers presented in the Seminar and the conclusions were brought together in publication "Alternative Policies for the Fourth Five-Year Plan."

The Board was reconstituted in 1969 with the Chief Minister Sri C Achutha Menon as Chairperson, Minister for Finance and the Minister for Education and Home and seven other officials of the Government as Members. The Fourth FiveYear Plan (1969-1974) of the State was given a final shape by this Board.

The Board was reconstituted in 1972 by creating the post of a part-time Vice Chairperson, a full-time technical Member, a full-time non-official Member and Member Secretary who was also made ex-officio Additional Secretary to Government, Planning Department. Chief Minister Sri C Achutha Menon was the Chairperson of the Board.

The Planning Board constituted 10 Steering Groups and 32 Task Forces consisting of government officials, technical experts, academicians, industrialists and experts, to prepare projects in development sectors.

The technical Member in addition to other duties was assigned the special task of preparing project reports for (i) cement factory based on lime deposits in Palakkad or based on raw materials of sufficient quantity in other parts of the State and (2) a pelletisation plant based on the iron ore deposit of Kozhikode.

In 1974 under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Sri C Achutha Menon, the composition of the Board was enlarged to include the Additional Chief Secretary to Government and Secretary to Government (ex-officio) in charge of Science and Technology as Members. In order to create a formal link between the Secretariat and the Planning Board for effective formulation and implementation of Plan schemes, nine Special Secretaries/Secretaries were appointed as Ex-officio Advisers (Plan programme) to the State Planning Board in respect of the subjects handled by them. The Planning Board was made a permanent major Department of the Government in 1974.

Besides the Administration and Publication Wings, the Planning Board had five major divisions − Economic Division, Agriculture Division, Industry and Infrastructure Division, Social Service Division and Evaluation Division.

Each division was assigned the task of conducting special studies relating to each sector, updating the basic data in respect of each sector and the formulation of medium term Plans for the State. The emphasis was to build up the necessary expertise and specialisation relating to important sectors in the Board. This has facilitated the Board to highlight the developments in each sector through its Annual Economic Review.

Senior-level posts of Chiefs for five divisions (Economic Division, Agriculture Division, Industry and Infrastructure Division, Social Service Division and Evaluation Division) were created and selection was made by direct recruitment through Public Service Commission.

A major study undertaken by the Board in 1974-75 related to the evaluation of the Fourth Five-Year Plan programmes. The Board organised a four week course on Agriculture Development Planning which comprised 83 sessions covering 40 topics, for the middle-level personnel of the Agricultural Department of the State. The course was repeated for a second batch of Agricultural Officers.

The Board was reconstituted in 1977 with Chief Minister Sri K Karunakaran as Chairperson and Ministers of Finance, Industries, Home, Education and Revenue as Members, a part-time Vice Chairperson, five part-time Members and three senior Government officials as part-time Members. The Special Secretaries/Secretaries to Government were continued as Ex-officio Advisers.

The reconstituted Board prepared the draft Five-Year Plan (1978-83). In this context, the Board set up 13 Steering Committees and 54 Task forces involving about 700 official and non-official experts in various fields. The Members of the Board were nominated as Chairperson of important Steering Committees. In order to assist the Steering Committees and Task Force in the formulation of Plan programmes, the different divisions of the Planning Board brought out several background papers, technical and analytical studies relating to the potential and problems of the State.

Even though the Board was responsible for the preparation of the State’s Five-Year Plans, the Annual Plans were formulated in the past under the guidance of the Planning Department in the Secretariat. However, from 1979-80 onwards, this task was also assigned to the Planning Board. As part of the decentralisation of the planning process, District Planning Units were set up in the eleven districts of the State. Each Unit was headed by a District Planning Officer and was supported by a research staff. The District Planning Unit was under the overall administrative control of the District Collector and subjected to the technical guidance of the State Planning Board.

The Board was reconstituted twice since 1977 (in 1979 and 1980) and the structure of the Board was composed of Chief Minister as Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and Members. In 1980, the Board was reconstituted with Chief Minister Sri E K Nayanar as the Chairperson. Till the reconstitution in 1980, the Member Secretary of the Board was also the Planning Secretary in Secretariat. In this Board, however, the Member Secretary did not combine in himself the role of Planning Secretary in Government. Industries Division, Perspective Planning Division and Social Service Division were established in 1980.

The Board was reconstituted twice in 1982 and 1983. Chief Minister Sri K Karunakaran was the Chairperson of the Board in 1983. The reconstituted Planning Board consisted, besides a full-time Chairperson and the Finance Minister as Member, of seven part-time Members also.

Six high-level Committees on following sectors were constituted in October, 1982 to assist Planning Board.

1. Industry, Trade and Power
2. Physical Infrastructure and Transport
3. Education and Employment
4. Social Infrastructure and Services (other than education)
5. Land and Water Resources
6. Mobilisation of Resources for Development.

The objective of the Committees was to study the development made in the respective areas, assess the progress and problems of the State, suggest objectives and profiles for development upto the year 2000 and indicate priorities to be followed and major programmes to be undertaken during the remaining period.

The Planning Board had constituted 38 Working Groups for formulating the Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985-1990) of the State. The Secretaries to government, heads of Departments, other government officials, specialists and academicians, industries, and scientists were included in the Working Groups. The Working Groups undertook a review and critical appraisal of the projects, programmes, and schemes of the Sixth Plan to decide the schemes which would inevitably spill over to the Seventh Plan and the provision to be set apart for such schemes. Taking into account the resources available and the recommendation of the High-Level Committees and also based on the reports of the Working Groups, draft proposals for the Seventh Plan were prepared by the Planning Board.

Besides the Administration Wing and Publication Wing, the Planning Board comprised of following technical divisions.

1. Agriculture Division
2. Data Bank and Computer Division
3. District Planning Division
4. Economic Division
5. Industries Division
6. Perspective Planning Division
7. Project Division
8. Resources Division
9. Social Service Division
10. Transport Division

State Planning Board (1994)
In 1994, the State Planning Board was re-structured with Chief Minister Sri K Karunakaran as the Chairperson. The following seven technical divisions were formed:

1. Agriculture Division
2. Decentralised Planning Division
3. Evaluation Division
4. Industry and Infrastructure Division
5. Perspective Planning Division
6. Plan Co-ordination Division
7. Social Service Division

Three posts of Chiefs – Chief (Transport), Chief (Industries), and Chief (Data bank and Computer) divisions were abolished. This was in response to the Report of the Committee of Experts constituted to study the structure of Planning Board and suggest measures for rationalisation.