Economist Saumitra Chaudhuri passes away

Economist Saumitra Chaudhuri passes away Saumitra Chaudhuri had also been in the race for RBI governor's post but Raghuram Rajan was eventually chosen, a noted economist and a member of many committees of former prime minister Manmohan Singh, passed away on Sunday morning at New Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, following a brief illness. He was 62. “Chaudhuri passed away today

(Sunday) morning at around 8 am. He was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was admitted to Ganga Ram Hospital and his condition had deteriorated in the last three weeks,” his nephew Abheek said.

Born on January 11, 1954, Chaudhuri had been a member of the erstwhile Planning Commission of India from 2009. He had also been a member of the then Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) from 2005 onwards. 

One of the longest serving members of the Planning Commission, Chaudhuri had also been in the race for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor’s post, but Raghuram Rajan was eventually chosen. 

C Rangarajan, former chairman of PMEAC, said the country has lost a distinguished economist. “The void is difficult to fill,” he said. His contributions to annual reports of PMEAC were valuable, Rangarajan recalled. Chaudhuri was a sound data analyst, particularly on the corporate side, he added.  

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had set up a committee under Chaudhuri's chairmanship to revise and improve the index of industrial production (IIP). If the report of the committee was implemented, IIP, which in its current form is creating a lot of confusion, would be improved a lot, Rangarajan said. 

Simple in his demeanour, Chaudhuri never showed any airs about his sharp mind, he added. 

Chaudhuri was the chairman of the Committee for Formulation of the All Industry Rates of Duty Drawback 2005–06 to 2009-10 in the finance ministry, where he was still serving after getting an extension later. 

 With a basic degree in science, Chaudhuri had studied economics at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. 

As part of Planning Commission, Chaudhuri had worked as the economic advisor and research coordinator with ICRA Limited, a full-service credit rating agency, from 1993 to 2009 and was executive editor of the research publication Money and Finance. 

 Chaudhuri had begun his career in the Bureau of Industrial Costs & Prices, Ministry of Industry (1981–83) and later served as a senior economist in the Joint Plant Committee, Department of Steel from 1981 to 1983. 

Subsequently, he was associated with Steel Authority of India and State Bank of India (1986–91), besides for short durations with the World Bank and UNIDO over two decades. 

He was also a member of a high-level committee on an estimation of savings and investments and a member of the inter-ministerial committee set up to examine pricing and taxation issues for petroleum products. 

Chaudhuri had 25 monographs and papers spanning issues of industry, the financial sector, regional development and fiscal policy.He is survived by his sister and nephews.