Arvind Panagariya is Professor of Economics, Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy and Director, Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. From January 2015 until August 2017, he served as the first Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog, Government of India, with the rank of Cabinet Minister. He is a former Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University. In March 2012, the Government of India honoured Professor Panagariya with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honours the country bestows in any field