Washington-based Center for Global Development has said that it is "honoured'' that its senior fellow Arvind Subramanian has been made India’s Chief Economic Advisor.
Centre president Nancy Birdsall said in an e-mailed comment to BusinessLine that "Arvind is much more than your mainstream macro-economist."
“Arvind is an immensely knowledgeable and creative thinker on trade, climate, tax, corruption and finance.
He has an understanding of India – its history, its economy, and its politics – both from the top down and the bottom up,” Birdsall added.
As a senior fellow at the Centre, Subramanian directed the Understanding India Initiative.
The initiative addresses how India should shape international thinking about development as well as how the country should engage internationally.
Subramanian’s latest work centered on the economics of climate change, and on trade, tax and intellectual property issues in the development context.
Latest book
Among his recent publications is Greenprint: A new approach to cooperation on climate change, a book written with Aaditya Mattoo.
The book proposes a viable grand bargain on climate between the rich world polluters and China and other emerging markets.
Meanwhile, the centre quoted Subramanian as saying that “I am honoured and privileged to be able to contribute to the government that has a strong mandate to set India on a dynamic growth trajectory that can provide opportunities for all Indians.”
The centre also referred to the formal announcement made by the Indian government in New Delhi with regard to Subramanian’s apppointment.
He was recommended to the position by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. It was made official after approval from the Union Cabinet.