Bibek Debroy, an eminent economist and chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, has passed away. He was 69.
Debroy, who had a history of diabetes, hypertension, and a heart blockage for which he had a pacemaker, was admitted to the AIIMS emergency department late on October 31 and died around 7 AM on November 1. “He was admitted with subacute intestinal obstruction. He also suffered from hypertension and diabetes mellitus,” an official source at AIIMS, Delhi told PTI.
A distinguished empirical economist and Padma Shri awardee, Debroy had been serving as chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council since September 2017.
Just four days before his death, he submitted an opinion piece to Financial Express with a note: “Unusual Column. Short of a requiem.” In the piece, he reflected on life after leaving the cardiac care unit at AIIMS nearly a month prior.
“There is a world outside that exists. What if I am not there? What indeed?” he wrote, as noted in the newspaper’s online post on Friday. “A few condolences, perhaps even from important people. ‘Irreparable loss.’ Perhaps a posthumous Padma Bhushan or Padma Vibhushan. A few obituaries,” he continued.
Debroy was a prolific writer, authoring and editing numerous works, including translations of the puranas, the four Vedas, and 11 major Upanishads, as well as the Valmiki Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
He was educated at the Ramakrishna Mission School, Narendrapur, and Kolkata’s Presidency College, later attending the Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College, Cambridge. His career began with trade issues in the 1980s and continued with law reform in the following decade. He served as a full-time member of NITI Aayog from its inception in 2015 until June 2019.
Debroy received the Padma Shri award in 2015.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Debroy as “a towering scholar, well-versed in diverse domains like economics, history, culture, politics, spirituality and more.”
He added, “Through his works, he left an indelible mark on India’s intellectual landscape. Beyond his contributions to public policy, he enjoyed working on our ancient texts, making them accessible to the youth.” Modi expressed his sorrow, stating, “I have known Dr. Debroy for many years. I will fondly remember his insights and passion for academic discourse. Saddened by his passing away. Condolences to his family and friends. Om Shanti.”
President Droupadi Murmu remarked that with Debroy’s demise, the country has lost an eminent public intellectual who enriched diverse fields, from policy making to translating great scriptures. “His understanding of India’s social, cultural and economic landscape was exceptional. For his extraordinary contributions, he was honoured with Padma Shri. I convey my condolences to his family, friends and admirers,” she wrote on X.
Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa and former CEO of NITI Aayog, said the country has lost one of its “brightest minds,” while Congress leader Jairam Ramesh characterised Debroy as a “man of unusually wide-ranging interests” with a talent for “lucid exposition.” Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the PM’s EAC, expressed his personal loss, stating he has lost a “friend and a mentor.”
Debroy held positions at Presidency College, Kolkata; Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune; Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi; and served as Director of a Ministry of Finance/UNDP project on legal reforms. He authored and edited numerous books, papers, and popular articles, also contributing as an editor to several newspapers.
In September, Debroy resigned as chancellor of the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) after the Bombay High Court extended interim relief to Vice-Chancellor Ajit Ranade, who had previously been removed from his position. He had been appointed chancellor of GIPE, a deemed university, in July.