Dr. C. Rangarajan is a leading economist of India who has played a key role both as an academic and a policy maker. He has held several important positions which include Governor of Reserve Bank of India and Governor of Andhra Pradesh.

Dr. C. Rangarajan was between January 2005 and till May 2014 Chairman,
Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister in the rank of Cabinet Minister, except during 2008-09 when he was a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha). During 2003 and 2004 he was Chairman of the Twelfth Finance Commission, a constitutional commission set up every five years to determine the sharing of tax revenues between the central and state governments.

Dr. Rangarajan was Governor of the Reserve Bank of India during 1992-97 at a time when India embarked on wide-ranging economic reforms which fundamentally altered the structure of the Indian economy. He was actively involved in the design and implementation of the reform agenda. The path-breaking reforms that he implemented during this period include deregulation of interest rates, strengthening of the banking system by a gradual tightening of prudential norms, creation and nurturing of financial markets and giving them depth and vibrancy, shifting to market determined exchange rates, making the rupee convertible on the current account and the cessation of the automatic monetization of the budget deficit. India became a member of Bank for International Settlements during his time as Governor. After obtaining his Honours Degree from Madras, he obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. In the United States, he taught at the Wharton School of Finance & Commerce, University of Pennsylvania and the Graduate School of Business Administration, New York University. In India, he taught at Loyola College, Madras, University of Rajasthan, the Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, and for well over a decade and a half, at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He was for a time Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington. He was President of the Indian Economic Association in 1988 and President of the Indian Econometric Society in 1994. He was the Conference President of the Indian Economic Association in the centenary year of 2017.

He is the author of several books on Indian Economy. Among others, these
include, “Tracking the Indian Economy: A Collection of Articles”, (2017), “Counting the poor : where do we stand” (co-author) (2017), “Federalism and Fiscal Transfers in India” (co-author) (2011), “India : Monetary Policy, Financial Stability and Other Essays” (2009), “Selected Essays on Indian Economy” two volumes (2003), “Indian Economy : Essays on Money and Finance” (1998).

Dr. Rangarajan was recipient of several prestigious awards. Notable among
them have been the Honorary Fellow of the Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad; Alumni Award for Outstanding Leadership by the Wharton India Economic  Forum and the `Finance Man of the Decade’ by the Bombay Management Association. In recognition of his distinguished service to the country, the Government honoured him with Padma Vibhushan in 2002 (Second Highest Civilian Honour). He was the recipient of ‘Prof P. C. Mahalanobis National Award’ in Official Statistics, in lifetime achievement
category in 2020. He was awarded the first “Dr. C.R. Rao Centenary Gold Medal” for life time achievement by The Indian Econometric Society in 2021. He has been the recipient of honorary doctorate from several universities.

He is currently Chairman, Madras School of Economics.