Prominent economist Bibek Debroy passed away on November 1 at the age of 69. Debroy was the chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council.
The news of his passing away was first reported by news agency ANI. The economist was also a member of think tank Niti Ayog till June 2019.
Debroy was an alumus of Presidency college Kolkata followed by Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College, Cambridge. Soon after his death, condolences poured in on social media. Taking to social media platform X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote, "Dr. Bibek Debroy Ji was a towering scholar, well-versed in diverse domains like economics, history, culture, politics, spirituality and more. Through his works, he left an indelible mark on India’s intellectual landscape."
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Taking to X, Congress's Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh highlighted that Debroy had numerous institutional affiliations and he left his mark everywhere. "Bibek was also a very prolific, and always thought-provoking, commentator in the media on public issues going well beyond economics.
More than that, he will be remembered as a genuine Sanskritist of great erudition. His translations were many and included the Mahabharata in ten volumes, the Ramayana in three volumes, and the Bhagavata Purana in three volumes," wrote Ramesh.
Debroy was also the chancellor of Pune based Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE). He resigned from his position this September after the Bombay High Court gave an interim relief to Vice-Chancellor Ajit Ranad who was earlier removed from his post for alleged violation of UGC norms.
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The chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, had several important roles. His career saw him take on several important roles that shaped the Indian economy. His contributions included his work at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade in 1978 and directing a Ministry of Finance/UNDP project on legal reforms from 1993 to 1998. He also worked in Department of Economic Affairs, National Council of Applied Economic Research, Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies and Centre for Policy Research.
Speaking to Outlook Business in April this year, Debroy highlighted that India is becoming a part of the global supply chain. On being asked if India should focus on boosting its services sector instead of balancing by growing manufacturing's share of GDP, he said, "Why does it have to be either-or? Every large country has had both manufacturing and services grow. It is a different matter that for a long time we were not part of the global supply chain."
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