Bibek Debroy is an economist and studied at Presidency College (Kolkata), Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College, Cambridge. He has worked as Research Associate, Presidency College, Kolkata (1979-83); Associate Professor, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune (1983-87); Professor, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (1987-93); Director of a project set up by Finance Ministry (India) and UNDP to examine legal reforms in India (1993-1998); Consultant, Department of Economic Affairs (Finance Ministry) (1994-95); Chief Consulting Economist, National Council for Applied Economic Research (1995-96); Director, Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies (1997-2005); Secretary General, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (2005-2007); and Professor, International Management Institute (2007-2010). Since March 2007, he has been Professor, Centre for Policy Research. He is the author of several books, academic papers and popular articles, with a special interest in trade, law, health, education and governance. Since 2004, he has also been a member of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council. In 2006 and 2007, he was a Rapporteur for the UN Commission on Legal Empowerment for the Poor. He has been Consulting Editor with several newspapers and since 2005, has been with the Indian Express group. Apart from economics, he has an interest in Indology and has translated the Vedas, the Puranas, the Upanishads and the Gita into English. He is now translating the unabridged Mahabharata in 10 volumes and the first 2 volumes have been published by Penguin in 2010.
