National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) is India’s oldest and largest independent, non-profit, economic policy research think tank. Established in New Delhi in 1956, it acquired considerable national and international standing within only a few decades of its founding. It is one of a handful of think tanks globally that combine rigorous analysis and policy outreach with deep data collection capabilities, especially for household surveys.
History
The genesis of the institution can be traced back to 1956, when the Indian experience in building up data bases relevant to the economy was just being given a firm foundation. T. T. Krishnamachari, then a Minister in Union Cabinet, held talks with Douglas Ensminger, the Ford Foundation’s head for India, to discuss the broad outline of a plan to set up an institution of economic research to get independent and reliable data and analysis for establishing priorities, allocating resources and evaluating performance. He then wrote to J. R. D. Tata with his idea for "an institute for research on economic and industrial problems." J. R. D. accepted the offer of becoming a sponsor.
The first meeting of the Governing Body of the Council for Industrial and Economic Research (as it was originally called) was held in the office of the then Planning Commission’s Deputy Chairman, V. T. Krishnamachari, in May 1956. At this meeting, C. D. Deshmukh, Union Finance Minister, who was also the first Indian Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, proposed that Parliamentarians be approached for the adoption of a resolution describing the proposed Council as a 'Centre of national importance.' Apart from T. T. Krishnamachari, J. R. D. Tata, C. T. Krishnamachari, and C. D. Deshmukh, NCAER founder’s panel also included John Matthai, the first Finance Minister of the Republic of India, Chairman of State Bank of India, Vice-Chancellor of Bombay University, and also a distinguished economist; N. R. Pillai, the first Cabinet Secretary of independent India; J. F. Sinclair, a technocrat who headed India’s premier private sector oil giant at that time, the Burma Shell Company, and, Asoka Mehta, a Member of Parliament and distinguished economist.
In August 1956, P. S. Lokanathan was designated as the first Director General of the Council and name of the institution was changed to its present name, the National Council of Applied Economic Research.
Leadership
Governing Body
The first Governing Body of NCAER included all Economics Ministers and leading lights of the private sector, such as C. D. Deshmukh, J. R. D. Tata, John Matthai, N. R. Pillai, J. F. Sinclair, and Asoka Mehta. Since then, its Governing Body have included almost every prominent Indian economist, policy maker, and industry leaders, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a member during 1976–82, and Ratan Tata as President during 1994–98. The current Governing Body of NCAER is headed by Nandan M. Nilekani, Non-Executive Chairman of the Infosys Board Bengaluru, former Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India, New Delhi, and Co-Founder and former CEO, Infosys Ltd.
NCAER Governing Body:
Nandan M. Nilekani (President) Rajendra S. Pawar (Vice-President) Mukesh D. Ambani (Member) Surjit S. Bhalla (Member) Ashish Dhawan (Member) Deepak S. Parekh (Member) Manish Sabharwal (Member) Ajay Seth (Member) Poonam Gupta (Member) Anil K. Sharma (Secretary to the NCAER Governing Body)
Former NCAER Presidents:
John Matthai (1956—59) V. T. Krishnamachari (1959—1964) Asoka Mehta (1964—1981) Prakash Tandon (1981—1992) Bimal Jalan (1992—1994) Lovraj Kumar (1993—1994) Ratan N. Tata (1994—1998) Bimal Jalan (1998—2008)
Director General
Since July 2021, the Director General of NCAER is Poonam Gupta, who is also a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). Before joining NCAER, she was Lead Economist, Global Macro and Market Research, International Finance Corporation (IFC); and Lead Economist for India at the World Bank. Her prior appointments include the Reserve Bank of India Chair Professor at National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP); Professor at Indian Council for Research on International Economics Relations (ICRIER); Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics; and, Economist at the International Monetary Fund.
Former Director Generals of NCAER:
P. S. Lokanathan (1956—1967) S. Boothalingam (1967—1974) M. V. Mathur (1974—1975) P. L. Tandon (1975—1981) I. Z. Bhatty (1981—1990) S. L. Rao (1990—1996) Rakesh Mohan (1996—2000) Suman Bery (2001—2011) Shekhar Shah (2011—2021)