India’s Growth Prospects and Policy Challenges

Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series
Montek Singh Ahluwalia
Former Deputy Chairman, The Planning Commission, Government of India
Penn Law, The Kushner Classroom, Gittis 213 (2nd floor)
3501 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

 

Montek Singh Ahluwalia served as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of the Government of India from 2004 to 2014. He is currently a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Stern School of Management, NYU. A key figure in India’s economic reforms from the early 1980s onwards, he has held several important positions including Special Secretary to the Indian Prime Minister (1988–90); Commerce Secretary (1990–91); Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance (1991–93); and Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance (1993–98). He was also Member of the Planning Commission, Government of India and Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (1998–2001). From 2001 to 2004, Mr. Ahluwalia worked as Director of the Independent Evaluation Office, International Monetary Fund. Mr. Ahluwalia holds a B.A. (Hons.) Economics degree from Delhi University; M.A. and M. Phil. from Oxford University.

His published works include “Reforming the Global Financial Architecture,” Economic Paper No. 41, Commonwealth Secretariat, London, 2000; “State Level Performance Under Economic Reforms in India,” in Economic Policy Reforms and the Indian Economy, edited by Anne O. Krueger (University of Chicago Press, 2002); “Economic Reforms in India since 1991,” “Has Gradualism Worked?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, August 2002; “Infrastructure Development in India’s Reforms,” in India Economic Reforms and Development: Essays for Manmohan Singh, edited by Isher Judge Ahluwalia, and I. M. D. Little (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1998); and “India’s Economic Reforms: An Appraisal,” in India in the Era of Economic Reforms, edited by Jeffrey Sachs and Nirupam Bajpai (Oxford University Press, 1999).

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The Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series is an endowed public program of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI). Launched in the 2007-08 academic year, and made possible through the generous support of the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, the series brings renowned India specialists to the Penn community and serves as a critical forum for analyzing and understanding the complex economic, political, social, and cultural changes that the world’s largest democracy is experiencing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.
The Saluja Global Fellows Program has been made possible by the generous gift from Vishal Saluja ENG’89 W’89. CASI was excited to launch the program during the 2022–23 academic year, coinciding with the Center’s 30th Anniversary. This new program enables CASI to invite eminent leaders and rising experts on contemporary India preferably from the fields of media, culture, law, and contemporary history to be in residence for one to two weeks at CASI.