Bimal Jalan is one of India's well-known economists. He was governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1997 to 2003, demitting office on his nomination to the Upper House of Parliament by the President for distinguished service to the country. He has held several top positions in the ministries of finance and industry and in the Planning Commission. He was also chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and represented India on the boards of the IMF and the World Bank. He was educated at Presidency College, Calcutta, and Cambridge and Oxford universities. His books include India's Economic Crisis: The Way Ahead (1991), India's Economic Policy: Preparing for the Twenty-first Century (1996), India's Economy in the New Millennium (2002), The Future of India (2006) and, as editor, The Indian Economy: Problems and Prospects (Revised edition, 2004). His latest title, India: Priorities for the Future, will be published in August 2017.
