Mr Neelkant Mishra, Chief Economist, Axis Bank; Head of Global Time Director, AXIS Capital Research,Whole
Neelkanth joined Axis in May 2023 after a distinguished two-decade career at Credit Suisse, where he served as Co-Head of Asia Pacific Strategy and India Strategist. He is a part-time member of the Indian Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, the part-time Chairman of UIDAI (Aadhaar), and a part-time member of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). His advisory roles extend to government bodies such as the India Semiconductor Mission and the 15th & 16th Finance Commissions. In addition, Neelkanth is a member of the CII’s Economic Affairs Council and frequently presents to corporate boards. His professional journey includes stints at HUL and Infosys. An alumnus of IIT-Kanpur, he is a gold-medalist and Distinguished Alumnus Awardee, having ranked fourth in the entrance exam to the IITs.
Prof. R Kavita Rao, Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP)
She has received her Ph.D. in economics from the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, and her Master’s in economics from the Delhi School of Economics. Her research interests include the design and implementation of Goods and Sales Tax (GST) in India, methodology for assessing the comprehensive impact of various tax exemptions on the economy, sectoral interlinkages and their implications in planning a growth strategy.
Prof S Mahendra Dev
Chairman
Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM)
He served as Director and Vice Chancellor of IGIDR, Mumbai (2010–2022) and earlier chaired the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices. He was Vice Chairman of IFPRI’s Board, a member of the National Statistical Commission, and Director of CESS, Hyderabad. He holds a Ph.D. from the Delhi School of Economics and a post-doctoral from Yale. Currently, he chairs the Institute for Development Studies, AP, and is a Distinguished Professor at ICFAI. An eminent development and agricultural economist, he has 150 publications, 23 books, and has advised global agencies and Indian government committees. He has received several awards, including the Malcolm Adisesaiah Award.
Mr Sameer Kochhar
Chairman
SKOCH Group
R
eforms historian and author of best-seller ModiNomics, Sameer Kochhar is Chairman, SKOCH Group. He is a passionate advocate of social, digital and financial inclusion and is a foremost expert on governance and inclusive growth. His work has been acclaimed globally and endorsed by Mr Narendra Modi, Mr M Venkaiah Naidu, Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr Arun Jaitley, Mr P Chidambaram, Mr Yashwant Sinha, Dr C Rangarajan and Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia and so on. In his thinking and writings and activities, his profound admiration for India’s economic reforms and in extension, those outstanding personalities who strive to make these reforms more meaningful and broad-based comes out clear and unambiguous. He has published over 18 volumes.
