Rajiv Kumar (born 6 July 1951) is an Indian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

who had served as the second vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog. He also served as the chancellor of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune. His earlier stint in government was initially with the Ministry of Industry and subsequently in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

, as economic advisor during the reform years of 1991-1994. He has wide experience of having worked in government, academia, industry associations, as well as in international financial institutions. He also served as an independent director on the central boards of the

Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...

and the

State Bank of India State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Public sector undertakings in India, public sector bank and financial service body headquartered in Mumbai. It is the largest bank in India with a 23% market shar ...

. Kumar is the writer of several books on India's economy and national security. He is an economic columnist for major Indian publications and is a speaker on the Indian political economy.

Early life and education

He has a bachelor's degree from St. Stephen college, Delhi University. Kumar holds a Ph.D from the

Lucknow University University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is one of the oldest public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. LU's main campus is located at Badshah Bagh, University Road area of the city with a second ...

, which he received in 1978 and another Ph.D. in economics from

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, which he received in 1981.

Career

Kumar was appointed senior research program officer, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) in Delhi in 1982. He was a professor in

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) is a public business school headquartered in New Delhi, Delhi, India. It has been proposed to be declared as an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India. Established in 1963, it ...

(IIFT) from 1987 to 1989. He was then appointed as the Senior Consultant, Bureau of Costs and Prices at the Ministry of Industry, Government of India from 1989 to 1991. He served as the Economic Advisor in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, from 1992 to 1995. In 1995, he joined the

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

as a Principal Economist, where he served until 2005. He was the Chief Economist for Confederation of India Industries for 2 years from 2004 – 2006. He returned to ICRIER as the director and Chief Executive in Feb 2006 and continued to be until August 2010. He was the Secretary General at the

FICCI The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in India. History Established in 1927, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi by Indian businessman G.D. Birla a ...

from 2010 to 2012. He became a senior fellow at the

Centre for Policy Research The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) is an Indian think tank focusing on public policy. Established in 1973 and located in New Delhi, it is one of the national social science research institutes recognized by the Indian Council of Social Scie ...

, Delhi from 2013 until January 2017. In 2017, he was appointed as the vice chairman of

NITI Aayog The NITI Aayog (; abbreviation for National Institution for Transforming India) serves as the apex public policy think tank of the Government of the Republic of India, and the nodal agency tasked with catalyzing economic development, and foste ...

-Government of India's apex

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

, with the rank of a Cabinet Minister. He was also the chairman of the

Atal Innovation Mission Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), is a Government of India’s initiative under NITI Aayog to promote a innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. It was setup in 2016. The initiative focuses on creation of a problem-solving and innovative m ...

with its mandate to establish an innovative eco-system in the country. He served in NITI Aayog until 2022. He also served as an independent director on the Central Boards of the

and the

. He is the founding director and Chairman of Pahle India Foundation - a public policy think tank facilitating policy change in India based in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

Honours

Kumar was conferred the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

, Gold and Silver Star of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

on 29 April 2023 as a part of the 2023 Spring Conferment of Decorations. He was conferred the order in recognition of his contributions to strengthening the economic relations between Japan and India.

Bibliography

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Rajiv St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford University of Lucknow alumni 20th-century Indian economists 21st-century Indian economists 1951 births Living people Delhi University alumni