Dr Bibek Debroy, Chairman of The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and a renowned economist, passed away on Friday. He was 69. Apart from being a learned scholar and author, he was known for translating the Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranas into English.

Dr Debroy is survived by his wife Suparna and two sons, settled abroad. He was admitted to the AIIMS emergency around 10 pm on Thursday and died at 7 am on Friday. Sources said the cause of death was subacute intestinal obstruction. They further informed that he had a history of diabetes, hypertension and a blockage in the heart for which he had a pacemaker.

President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled Dr Debroy’s death.The President said in Dr Debroy’s demise, the country has lost an eminent public intellectual who enriched diverse fields, from policy making to translating India’s great scriptures.”His understanding of India’s social, cultural and economic landscape was exceptional. For his extraordinary contributions, he was honoured with Padma Shri. I convey my condolences to his family, friends and admirers,” she said in her post on X.

PM Modi said Dr Bibek Debroy was a towering scholar, well-versed in diverse domains like economics, history, culture, politics, spirituality and more.”Through his works, he left an indelible mark on India’s intellectual landscape. Beyond his contributions to public policy, he enjoyed working on our ancient texts, making them accessible to the youth,” he said in his post on X.

With a wealth of expertise in macroeconomics, public finance, and infrastructure, Debroy published extensively on various subjects, including economic reforms and governance.
Bibek Debroy’s insights into the Indian railways were particularly noteworthy, reflecting his deep understanding of the nation’s economic framework.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed profound grief over Debroy’s demise. ”As Chairman of the PM Economic Advisory Council, he profusely participated in policy making. His interests, inter alia, were—ancient texts, Vedic and classical Sanskrit, Devi, Railways. He was prolific in translating Sanskrit to English- our epics and puranas.
His book Sarama and Her Children showed his uncanny knack in extracting nuggets from our ancient texts. Bibek, you had so much more to do and to complete— for all our sake! Farewell! Om Shanti.”

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar condoled in his post saying ”Deeply grieved at the passing away of Dr Bibek Debroy.”His contributions to governance and policy making were enormous. Equally, his exceptional talents were harnessed to make our culture, history and traditions accessible to many generations.”Remembering a dedicated reformer, great nationalist, an erudite scholar and a wonderful friend. Om Shanti.”

Author Amish Tripathi wrote he felt orphaned. ”Bibek Debroy – Bibek da to me – was a brilliant scholar, a committed patriot and a noble man. He advised me, not just on our texts & philosophies, but also on life skills. He was an elder brother to me, whenever I needed his guidance. I stayed often at his house in Delhi when I visited there, and his pearls of wisdom every evening, when we chatted over dinner, will always remain with me. I feel orphaned. You went too early, Bibek da… Too early…
Sincere condolences to Suparna bhabhi and the rest of his family.”

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh remembered Debroy’s scholarship as well as sense of humour.“A man of unusually wide-ranging interests, Bibek Debroy was first and foremost a fine theoretical and empirical economist who worked and wrote on various aspects of the Indian economy. He also had a special skill for lucid exposition, in a manner that would make laypersons easily understand complex economic issues. Over the years, he has had numerous institutional affiliations and he left his mark everywhere,” Ramesh wrote.

Dr Debroy has played a crucial role in shaping India’s economic policies. With expertise in diverse fields, including macroeconomics, public finance, and infrastructure, he has published extensively on topics such as economic reforms, governance, and the Indian railways.He had been the EAC chairman since September 2017. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2015.

Debroy was born in Shillong, now in Meghalaya, on 25 January 1955 to a Bengali Hindu family. He studied in Ramakrishna Mission School, Narendrapur, and Presidency College, Kolkata. He then went to the Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College, Cambridge. He has worked in Presidency College, Kolkata (1979-83), Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune (1983-87); Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi (1987-93).

He also worked as the Director of a Ministry of Finance/UNDP project on legal reforms (1993-98); Department of Economic Affairs (1994-95): National Council of Applied Economic Research (1995-96) and Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies ( 1997-2005).He was also employed at the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (2005-06); and Centre for Policy Research (2007-2015).

Dr Debroy was also Member, NITI Aayog up to 5th June 2019. He has authored and edited several books, papers and popular articles and has also been a Consulting Editor with several newspapers.
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