People
Atul Sarma
Atul Sarma, Ph.D is currently Distinguished Professor at Council for Development. He was Visiting Professor at Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, New Delhi He was Chairman, OKD Institute for Social Change and Development, Guwahati for nine years since March 2011. Formerly, he was a Visiting Professor, Institute for Human Development, New Delhi, Vice-Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University (2003-2006), Member, Thirteenth Finance Commission (2008-2010), ICSSR National Fellow and a Post-doctoral Fellow at MIT, Cambridge, USA. He was Head, Delhi Centre and Professor of Economics at Indian Statistical Institute. He was Economic Adviser, Eighth and Tenth Finance Commission. He served as independent Director in the Board of Directors of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) for six years
Professor Sarma served as a Consultant to several international agencies such as Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO of the UN, Rome, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Bangkok, International Development Research Centre, Canada (IDRC) and United Nations Industrial Organisation (UNIDO), Vienna. He was a Member of Technology Development Board as also that of Assam and Manipur State Planning Boards.
Professor Sarma was President, Indian Econometric Society (2006). His main research interests are: Development Economics, Public Finance and Policy, Macro Economics, Trade and Development
Besides contributing numerous articles in various Indian and International journals and edited volumes in the areas of Public Finance and Policy, Trade, Development Economics etc. he published singly or jointly several books including Exploring Indo-ASEAN Economic Partnership in Globalizing World. His latest books are Social Sector Development in North-East India (Edited) (2020), Integrating the Third Tier in the Indian federal System (2018), Mainstreaming Northeast in India’s Look East Policy (Edited) (2018) – both published by Palgrave MacMillan; String of Thoughts on Northeast -An Economist’s Perspective, (2018), Aakar Books.
Shyam Sunder
Shyam, a Ph.D. in Economics and comes with a strong background of having worked for over 22 years in policy research, promoting trade & investment, facilitating international B2B interactions, promoting entrepreneurship development, technology assessment & commercialisation and market research & and entry strategies with hands-on expertise in managing Government and Public affairs functions. Prior to joining Mahindra & Mahindra, he was the General Manager and Regional Head of Government and Public Affairs with Tata Motors. Previously he has worked with Hyundai Motors, India. Shyam has also worked with FICCI, Korea Trade & Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), GE Capital International Services and Ranbaxy, amongst others, during his professional career.
Shyam has been actively involved in helping Indian industries for necessary advocacy on key policy matters. During his tenure with KOTRA and FICCI, Mr. he has assisted many Indian and Foreign companies in the areas of trade & investment promotion. He has participated in numerous seminars, workshops and conferences organised by different Trade Body and Industry Chambers on these subjects.