Arvind Mayaram

Arvind Mayaram has a Ph.D. in Finance and is former Finance Secretary of India. He was also Special Secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development. In Rajasthan, he held the position of Industries & Tourism Secretary. He has also been the Alternate Governor for India on the Boards of World Bank, ADB and African Development Bank. He was India’s finance deputy in G20 and BRICS. He was also on the Boards of the Reserve Bank of India, Securities Exchanges Board of India & Life Insurance Corp. He was India’s chief negotiator for BRICS New Development Bank and co-chair of the Framework Working Group of G-20.

He has been instrumental in several major initiatives in the area of investment, infrastructure development, Public-Private Partnerships and institution building. He spearheaded the establishment of the framework for mainstreaming PPPs in infrastructure and accelerated the process of including newer areas for PPPs not only sectorally but also in a large number of states across India.

He was also Vice President of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA), formed under the aegis of UNCTAD, UNIDO, FIAS and MIGA for two terms in early 2000. He has been an investment promotion expert with UNCTAD and his expertise in the area of PPPs is internationally acknowledged. He has undertaken missions for the UN agencies in countries such as Sudan, South Africa, Fiji, Ecuador, Uzbekistan, South Africa, Cambodia etc. apart from participating in several foreign economic negotiations on behalf of the Government of India.

He is an institution builder. He established Bureau of Investment Promotion (BIP) and Project Development Company of Rajasthan (PDCOR) in Rajasthan. He also incorporated the National Skill Development Corporation and the National Skill Development Trust, the foundation stones of the National Skill Development Mission.

He is currently an Economic Advisor to the chief minister of Rajasthan and vice chairman, CM’s Rajasthan Economic Transformation Advisory Council. He is a free thinker and also chairman, CUTS Institute for Regulation & Competition (CIRC) and Access Development Services.