Amitabh Kant

Amitabh kant IAS
File:AmitabhKant.jpg Kant in April 2017
2nd CEO of NITI Aayog
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 February 2016
Preceded by	Sindhushree Khullar
Personal details
Born	(1956-03-01) 1 March 1956 Varanasi
Nationality	India
Spouse(s)	Ranjeeta Kant
Alma mater	University of Delhi Jawaharlal Nehru University
Occupation	Civil Servant

Amitabh Kant is an IAS officer of the 1980 batch. As of June 2019, he is the chief executive officer of NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India). NITI is a government institution for catalysing economic development.

Early life

Amitabh Kant was born on 1 March 1956. He first studied at Modern School, Delhi. He graduated with a degree in economics (Hons.) from St. Stephen's College, Delhi and earned an M.A from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

He attended Manchester Business School on a Chevening Scholarship.

Later, he attended the Mid-career Program at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Amitabh Kant is married to Ranjeeta Kant; they have two daughters Vedica and Vanshica.

Career

Amitabh Kant is the CEO of NITI Aayog. He is a member of the Indian Administrative Service, IAS (Kerala Cadre: 1980 batch). He is the author of Branding India – An Incredible Story, The Path Ahead: Transformative Ideas for India, and Incredible India 2.0- Synergies for Growth and Governance.

India Today, in its 45th Anniversary special issue, featured Kant as one of the 45 celebrated Indians. In his interview, Kant said that "the Kerala tourism secretary job was seen as a lousy posting, but I took it as an opportunity to showcase God's own country".

Kant was listed as one of the world's 50 most influential people revolutionizing governance by Apolitical, a global government learning platform.

Kant has also been Chairman of the Empowered Committee on the transformation of Aspirational Districts Programme of the Government of India, which was launched by the Prime Minister of India in 2018. Aspirational Districts are the most geographically far flung and backward districts of India which fared poorly in socio-economic indicators. Professor Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School and Professor Scott Stern of Stanford have said that the Aspirational Districts Programme has the potential to catalyze action throughout India. The UNDP evaluated the impact of the program over the last three years and concluded that the program is a very successful model of local area development.

In addition to his current role as the CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant serves as a Director in the board of the National Highways Authority of India, Member of the Digital Communications Commission of India, Director of the Board of the India International Convention Centre, member of the National Statistical Commission of India, Member of the National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) and the Chairman of the Executive Council of the National Institute of Labour Economics, Research and Development. In the past, Amitabh Kant has worked as Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Chairman & CEO, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corporation, CMD – ITDC, Joint Secretary – Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Secretary – Tourism, Government of Kerala, Managing Director, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, District Collector, Kozikhode and Managing Director, Matsyafed. In Kerala, he also served as the Sub Collector of Telicherry, Commissioner of Rural Development and as Principal Secretary and Special Commissioner (Industries). During his tenure in Kerala he structured the Calicut Airport as a private sector project based on User’s Free and developed the BSES Power Project and Mattanchery Bridge under Private Public Partnership. He was also responsible for introducing new technology (fiberglass crafts and outboard motor) in the fisheries sector and launching beach level auctions which substantially enhanced returns to traditional fishermen. He began his IAS career working as sub collector of Thalassery.

During his role as Joint Secretary Tourism, Government of India and Secretary, Tourism, Government of Kerala, Kant was the key driver of the “Make in India,” Startup India, “Incredible India,” and “God’s Own Country” initiatives that positioned India and Kerala State as leading manufacturing and tourism destinations. These campaigns won several international awards. They employed many activities, including infrastructure development, product enhancement, private-public partnership and positioning and branding. Kerala thereafter became India’s leading tourism destination. Kant conceptualized and executed the “Atithi Devo Bhavah” – “God will visit in the form of a Guest" campaign to train taxi drivers, guides, immigration officials and make them stakeholders in the tourism development process.. He also served as the National Project Director of the Rural Tourism Project of UNDP which created a paradigm shift in spreading tourism to Indian villages that had skills in handicrafts, handlooms and culture.

As Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), he was responsible for formulation and implementation of industrial policy and strategies for industrial development, monitoring the industrial growth and performance of specific industrial sectors, formulation of foreign direct investment (FDI) policy and FDI promotion and facilitation. Related policies covered intellectual property rights relating to patents, trademarks, industrial design and geographical Indications. He was also responsible for promotion of productivity, quality and technical cooperation.. During his tenure, he vigorously drove the Ease of Doing Business initiative and ranking of States on outcome parameters. These initiatives have led to India making a quantum jump in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Index and enabled Indian States to compete in the spirit of competitive federalism.

Kant is also involved in various initiatives of the World Economic Forum. He is on the Global Advisory Board, Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network. He is a Steering Committee Member of the EDISON Alliance which is focused on bridging the digital divide. He is also on the Board of Stewards, Advanced Manufacturing and Production and is Member of the Regional Action Group on South Asia. He served as Chair of the Regional Strategy Group India from 2017 to 2020.

Kant has received a number of recognitions for his work in the field of governance. He received the Economic Times Policy Change Agent of the Year Award, the Bloomberg TV Personality of the year Award, the NDTV Administrator of the year Award and the 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. He is a Member of the Steering Board of “Shaping the Future of Production Systems” of World Economic Forum. He is also the recipient of Golden Peacock Award for Leadership in Economic Transformation-2017.

In December 2020, Kant reportedly attracted controversy after he remarked at a public event that "tough reforms" were "very difficult in the Indian context" as "we are too much of a democracy". The remarks were made at an event hosted by Swarajya magazine, and sponsored by Indian mining company, Vedanta. The comments were widely reported by several news outlets, including the Press Trust of India, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, Firstpost, and India Today, and a video of the speech was hosted online by Swarajya magazine. Kant later denied making the remarks, and Hindustan Times withdrew their report on the comments. Independent fact checking website Alt News confirmed that the original news reports had quoted him verbatim and that it was unclear why several publications had removed their stories or changed their headlines. Kant later disputed these reports, claiming that his comments had been misconstrued. "What I said and what has been ascribed to me are poles apart. My statement, with relevant portions, is that India is too much of a democracy to mirror a China model. How this has been misconstrued to mean we have 'too much democracy' is both myopic and idiosyncratic. Let me reiterate — there is nothing ambiguous about what I said. The entire conversation is available in the public domain"

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" along with other bureaucrats such as Nripendra Misra and Ajit Doval.

Recognition

He received the Economic Times Policy Change Agent of the Year Award, the Bloomberg TV Personality of the year Award, the NDTV Administrator of the year Award and the 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 a Member of the Steering Board of “Shaping the Future of Production Systems” of the World Economic Forum{WEF}.