Shri Ashok Kumar Lahiri
Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog
Ashok Lahiri is currently Vice Chairman Niti Aayog. He was a member of the 17th West Bengal Legislative Assembly (2021-2026). He was Chairman of the Governing Council of Indian Statistical Institute between 30 September 2020 and 17 September 2022. He retired as Executive Director, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila on June 30, 2013. Before ADB, he served as Chief Economic Adviser, Government of India; Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy; Senior Economist, International Monetary Fund; and Reader, Delhi School of Economics. A graduate in economics from Presidency College, Kolkata, he did his MA and Ph. D from the Delhi School of Economics.
Ashok Lahiri has served as a member or chairman of various Committees appointed by the Government of India, including as a member on Fiscal Responsibility Legislation (2000). He has served on boards of various organisations, including Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). He was the Dean of the ADB Board during 2012-13. He was the Chairman of Bandhan Bank during 2015-2018. He was a member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission. The Finance Commission deals with vertical and horizontal devolution of funds between the Centre and the States.
His recent book is “India in Search of Glory – Political Calculus and Economy,” (Penguin Random House India, 2022). Apart from in economics, he has published several books and articles on electoral behaviour in India. Election analysis is his hobby.
