Former Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Government of India,

Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia - Former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission for India. He has been a key figure in India’s economic reforms from the mid 1980s onwards. For his outstanding contribution to economic policy and public service, he was conferred the prestigious 'Padma Vibhushan' by President of India in 2011.

Born on 24th November, 1943, Shri Ahluwalia received his Bachelors degree from St. Stephens College, Delhi University. Later he received an M.A. and an M. Phil degree in economics from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. After completion of studies, he joined the World Bank in 1968 as a Young Professional and then held various positions including Chief of the Income Distribution Division. He joined the Government of India in 1979 as Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Finance after which he held a series of positions including Special Secretary to the Prime Minister; Commerce Secretary; Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs; Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; Member of the Planning Commission and Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. In 2001, he was appointed as the first Director of the newly created Independent Evaluation Office of the International Monitory Fund. He resigned the position in 2004 to take up the position of Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.

Shri Ahluwalia has written on various aspects of development economics, including Indian economic policy and his articles have been published in a number of prominent Indian and international journals and books. He co-authored ‘Re-distribution with Growth: An Approach to Policy’, published in 1975. He also wrote ‘Reforming the Global Financial Architecture’, which was published in 2004 as Economic Paper No. 41 by the Commonwealth Secretariat, London. Shri Ahluwalia has received several honorary degrees including an honorary doctorate in Civil Law from the University of Oxford. He is an honorary fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Global Green Growth Institute, South Korea.