Amitabh Kant

Biography Amitabh Kant

Former G20 Sherpa (India) | Former CEO, NITI Aayog | Senior Adviser (Fairfax, SMBC & Warburg Pincus) | Board Member (L&T, ITC, HCLTech & IndiGo) | Chancellor, NIIT University

Amitabh Kant is a governance reformer and public policy change agent who has led major national initiatives and transformative reforms over a distinguished 45 year career at the highest levels of the Government of India, including as the Prime Minister’s G20 Sherpa, the CEO of the National Institution for Transforming India (NIT Aayog) – which is the Prime Minister-led apex policy planning agency of the Government of India – as well as Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

Current Roles

He currently serves as a Senior Adviser to Fairfax, Sumitomo Mitsubishi Banking Corporation (SMBC) and Warburg Pincus, and is on the Boards of Larsen and Toubro (L&T), ITC, HCL Tech and IndiGo. He also serves as the Chancellor of NIIT University.

G20 Leadership

He previously served as Prime Minister’s G20 Sherpa during the Indian G20 Presidency in 2023. As Sherpa, he led efforts to drive consensus and deliver the Leader’s Declaration, which carried key ambitions and commitments around AI, and Climate, the latter through the landmark Green Development Pact.
Tenure as CEO, NITI Aayog

As CEO of NITI Aayog, Kant led several initiatives including the Production-linked Incentive Schemes to boost manufacturing in India, the Aspirational Districts Program (the world’s largest outcome-based governance initiative), India’s first National AI Strategy, the setting up of the National EV Mission, the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the National Mission for Battery Storage and the National Circular Economy Mission.
Key Government Positions

He has held numerous key positions with the Government of India, including as Secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), during which he launched the Make in India and Startup India initiatives.
Tourism Leadership & Kerala Contribution

He also served as Joint Secretary of Tourism, leading the Incredible India campaign. During his tenure in the Indian State of Kerala, he served in various positions, including as Tourism Secretary of the State, driving the “Kerala: God’s Own Country” tourism campaign.
Tenure with Government of Kerala

As part of his tenure with the State Government of Kerala, he served as the Secretary of Tourism, Managing Director of the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, District Collector of Kozikhode and the Managing Director, Matsyafed(Apex Fisheries Federation for transforming lives of traditional fishermen through technology) among numerous other assignments.

In Kerala, he structured the Calicut Airport as a private sector project based on User’s Fee basis and developed the ManachiraMaidan as a rejuvenative urban project in the heart of Calicut city.
Books

Amitabh Kant is the author of the following books:

1. Branding India-An Incredible Story

2. Incredible India 2.0

3. Editor of “The Path Ahead- Transformative Ideas for India”.

4. He is the author of over 500 published articles in leading Indian newspapers.
International Engagements

He is a Member of the Steering Board of “Shaping the Future of Production Systems” of World Economic Forum (WEF) and also a Champion of the EDISON Alliance of the WEF, the aim of which is to deepen digital inclusion across health, education and finance for developing nations across the world.

He is Member of the Regional Action Group on South Asia. He served as Chair of the Regional Strategy Group India from 2017 to 2020. He also served on the Management Board of the OECD- International Transport Forum (ITF), the world’s only inter-governmental agency for Transport.
Education

Amitabh Kant did his schooling from Modern School, Delhi, graduation in Economics (Hons) from St. Stephens, Delhi University and M.A from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is a Chevening Scholar. He has also undertaken a mid-term course with John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.

What I've achieved

Recognitions

Economic Times Policy Change Agent of the Year Award

Bloomberg TV Personality of the year Award

NDTV Administrator of the year Award

Distinguished Fellowship of the Institute of Directors.

He is the recipient of One Globe Award-2016 for leadership in Transforming Governance for the 21st Century.

He is also the recipient of Sir Edmund Hillary Fellowship awarded by the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

India Today's High & Mighty rankings of 2019 featured Kant as one of the most powerful people in India under the category of "The Supercrats - India's Top Bureaucrats".

About myself

Curriculum Vitae

Amitabh Kant is India’s G20 Sherpa, and the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) (2016-2022), as well as the former Secretary of the Department for Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) (2014-2016), Government of India (GoI). He is a member of the Indian Administrative Service, IAS (Kerala Cadre: 1980 Batch).

Mr Kant is the author of “Branding India – An Incredible Story,” and has been a key driver of the “Make in India,” Startup India, “Incredible India,” and “God’s Own Country” initiatives which positioned and branded India and Kerala State as leading manufacturing and tourism destinations. These campaigns have won several international awards and embraced a host of activities – infrastructure development, product enhancement, private-public partnership, and brand building. Mr Kant also conceptualised and executed the “Atithi Devo Bhavah” – “Guest is God” campaign to train taxi drivers, guides, immigration officials and make them stakeholders in the tourism development process. As National Project Director of the Rural Tourism Project of UNDP, he oversaw a paradigm shift in spreading tourism to Indian villages that have core-competencies in handicrafts, handloom, and culture.

He was also the Chairman and CEO of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) and Chairman of the National Productivity Council.

The Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) is being developed by the GoI as a global manufacturing and investment destination supported by world-class infrastructure and an enabling policy framework. The DMIC project is aimed at the development of futuristic, smart industrial cities in India which will converge and integrate next generation technologies across sectors. The DMIC cities will address not merely the urbanisation requirements of India, but with manufacturing as the main economic base, will also contribute significantly to the economic growth of the country.

Praises:

'I consistently cite the "Incredible India" campaign as a masterstroke of international branding. And who better to tell the story than the man who created it. Amitabh Kant's book is insightful, thought-provoking, superbly researched, and deftly crafted.

Keith Bellows
Editor in Chief, National Geographic Traveler
Incredible inspiration. Amitabh Kant's account of branding India is a must-read not just for those in the tourism and advertising industries but also to all of us who want to experience the authentic richness of a continent that could well be the key to all our futures.

Sarah Miller
Editor, Conde Nast Traveller, UK
Nothing builds brands better than passion. Amitabh Kant's passion for both Brand India and Kerala is bubbling in every line and between the lines.

Piyush Pandey
Executive Chairman & National Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather
A remarkable saga of how to attract the attention of overseas and domestic customers.

Jean Claude Baumgarten
President, World Travel & Tourism Council
Few campaigns have impressed me as much as "Incredible India" in its uniqueness, creativity, impact and effectiveness. The lucid, open-hearted, first-person account makes interesting and informative reading for academics and practitioners alike

Francesco Frangialli
Secretary-General, UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)