From the rigorous industrial rules of the License Raj era to the new age of liberalisation and hyper-globalization, the Indian economy witnessed rapid growth that has helped more than 120 million people to escape poverty, and facilitated the expansion of an empowered middles class that today comprises over half of the country’s population. The same reforms have also led to the creation of a new affluent class that has the highest number of billionaires in the world only after the USA, Russia and China; up from just two billionaires on the Forbes list in the 1990s. From the perspective of inclusive and sustainable economic progress, the benefits of this stupendous growth have not been uniformly distributed across the growing Indian population to say the least. The richest 1 per cent today hold more than half of the country’s total wealth, while the poor claim only 4.1 per cent of national wealth.
 
Join us as we speak to James Crabtree, Writer, Journalist and Author about his new book The Billionaire Raj, in which he talks about increasing income inequality in India and how transparency and development focused policies by the government could aid the uniform distribution of economic benefits. Joining him in conversation will be Shubhada Rao, Chief Economist, Yes Bank, Amish Tripathi, Author, Ashutosh Varhsney, Director, Centre for Contemporary South Asia, Brown University and Niranjan Rajadhyaksha, Executive Editor, Mint as moderator.

James Crabtree is a writer, journalist and author living in Singapore. He is currently an associate professor of practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, a senior fellow at the school’s Centre on Asia and Globalisation, and a non-resident fellow at the Asia programme at Chatham House. Prior to moving into academia, James worked for the Financial Times, latterly leading the newspapers coverage of Indian business as Mumbai bureau chief between 2011 and 2016. 'The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India’s New Gilded Age' is his first book.

Shubhada Rao is the Chief Economist and Group President at YES BANK. Prior to joining YES BANK, Shubhada has worked with Kotak Institutional Equities as Chief Economist, with Bank of Baroda as Economist with Risk Management and as Head, Economic Advisory at CRISIL Advisory Services. Shubhada is an active member of the Economics Committees of Industry Associations and is a member of CII National Economic Policy Council, New Delhi, Co-Chair of Economics Committee at ASSOCHAM and a member of the Monetary Policy Group - Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). 

Niranjan Rajadhyaksha is the executive editor of Mint. He writes the popular Cafe Economics column that has won several national and international awards. He is also a member of the academic board of the Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics and a member of the board of the Takshashila Institution. Mr Rajadhyaksha authored the book 'The Rise of India: Its Journey from Poverty to Prosperity' which was published worldwide by John Wiley and Sons. He was previously the deputy editor of Business World magazine. He is currently completing his PhD in economics from Mumbai University.

Amish Tripathi is the best-selling author of the Shiva Trilogy. Described as ‘India’s first literary popstar’ by film director Shekhar Kapur, Amish’s unique combination of crackling story-telling, religious symbolism and profound philosophies has turned him into an Indian publishing phenomenon, with spiritual guru Deepak Chopra hailing Amish’s books as ‘archetypal and stirring’. His books have been translated into 19 Indian and International languages. Amish is a graduate of IIM-Calcutta and worked for 14 years in the financial services industry before turning to full-time writing. 

Ashutosh Varshney is Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Brown University, where he also directs the Center for Contemporary South Asia. Previously, he taught at Harvard University and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has written several books on India's history, ethnic conflict and economics. He served on the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's Millennium Task Force on Poverty (2002-5). He has also served as an advisor to the World Bank, UNDP and the Club of Madrid

In partnership with:

Outreach partner: