Mr. N.K. Singh
Mr. N. K. Singh is an eminent economist, a policy interlocutor, an IAS officer (1964 batch), and the 6th President of the Institute of Economic Growth. He was Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission and the FRBM Review Committee which recommended a new institutional framework for fiscal discipline, which was adopted by the Parliament in 2017. As former Revenue Secretary, he spearheaded major reforms in both direct and indirect taxation, including rationalization of tax rates, restructuring of tax slabs, and significant steps toward enhancing ease of compliance. As Expenditure Secretary, he was closely involved in reforms related to the quality and efficiency of public outlays.
He was Secretary to Prime Minister Vajpayee (1998), and was keenly associated with the big policy changes including Telecom and National Highways connectivity. Subsequently, he was a Member of the Planning Commission, Chairing several Task Forces including on Hydrogen Energy, Infrastructure Policy, and Foreign Direct Investment. He also served in the Ministry of Commerce as Additional Secretary, Economic Affairs, involved in key negotiations with the World Bank and IMF during the Balance of Payments crisis of 1991.
Following this, he was a Member of the Rajya Sabha (2008–2014) and served on key committees including the Public Accounts Committee, Committee on External Affairs, Standing Committee on Human Resource Development, and the Parliamentary Forum on Global Warming and Climate Change.
He was also Co-convenor of the G20 Expert Group on MDB reforms along with Larry Summers (2023). He is a recipient of Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun and an Honorary Fellow of the LSE.
Mr Singh is also the author of several books like his autobiography, Portraits of Power: Half a Century of being at Ringside, more recently Recalibrate, The New Bihar and earlier Not by Reason Alone: The Politics of Change.