Bibek Debroy (69), the country's famous economist and chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, passed away on Friday. Debroy has played an important role in shaping Indian economic policies. Condoling his demise on social media, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "I will always remember Dr. Debroy for his insight and passion for academic discussion."

Dr. Bibek Debroy Ji was a towering scholar, well-versed in diverse domains like economics, history, culture, politics, spirituality and more. Through his works, he left an indelible mark on India's intellectual landscape. Beyond his contributions to public policy, he enjoyed pic.twitter.com/E3DETgajLr

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 1, 2024

Role played in these positions

Bibek Debroy served as the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to the Prime Minister and headed the Expert Committee on Infrastructure Classification and Financing Framework of the Finance Ministry. He was a member of NITI Aayog from 2015 to 2019 and was awarded Padma Shri in 2015 for his excellent work.

Came into discussion due to demand for new constitution

Recently, Debroy, in his article published in Mint newspaper on August 14, demanded a new constitution for India. He argued that the existing constitution is based on the Government of India Act of 1935 and a new constitution is needed for 2047. This statement of his had garnered a lot of headlines.

Was born in Shillong

Economist Bibek Debroy was born on 25 January 1955 in Shillong, Meghalaya. His grandparents came to India from Sylhet, Bangladesh, and his father worked in the Indian Audit and Accounts Service of the Government of India.

Debroy received his early education from Ramakrishna Mission School, Narendrapur, West Bengal. After this, he obtained a bachelor's degree in Economics from Presidency College, Kolkata. For postgraduate studies, he went to Delhi School of Economics, where he obtained a master's degree in Economics. After this, he went to the University of Cambridge for further studies under the Trinity College Scholarship.

At Cambridge, Bibek Debroy worked on the General Equilibrium Framework under the guidance of British economist Frank Hahn. Although he had gone there to pursue a PhD, he obtained an MSc degree and then returned to his country.