Ravi Bapna is a Visiting Distinguished Senior Fellow at NCAER. He is also the Curtis L. Carlson Chair in Business Analytics and Information Systems, and the Academic Director of the Carlson Analytics Lab and the Analytics for Good Institute at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. He also serves as a Senior Editor for Information Systems Research. His expertise lies in helping companies navigate digital transformation and leverage data-science, machine learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and business analytics for competitive advantage.
He is the co-author (along with Anindya Ghose of New York University) of an MIT Press book, Thrive: Maximizing Well-Being in the Age of AI. He has received several awards for his work, including the AIS fellow Award, the INFORMS ISS Distinguished Fellow Award, the INFORMS ISS Inaugural Practical Impacts Award, the INFORMS ISS Haim Mendelson Teaching Innovation Award, and multiple best paper awards in journals such as Management Science and Information Systems Research.
He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calcutta, a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology, Karnataka, and a PhD in Information Systems from the University of Connecticut.
Rana Hasan is the Director, Centre for Economic Growth at NCAER. He is a distinguished economist with over 25 years of international development experience, specialising in economic growth, public finance, labour markets, urban development, trade, infrastructure, industrial development, and economic policy.
Prior to joining NCAER, Dr Hasan served as Regional Lead Economist for South Asia at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), where he provided technical leadership on regional and country economic assessments, development strategies, and policy dialogue. Over the course of his nearly three-decade long career, he held several senior leadership and research positions at ADB, including Director, Economic Analysis and Operational Support Division; Director, Development Economics and Indicators Division; Principal Economist, Country Program and Development Results Unit; and Senior Economist/Economist, Development Indicators and Policy Research Division. He has also served as a Fellow at the East-West Center, Honolulu; an Instructor, Research Assistant, and Teaching Assistant at the University of Maryland, College Park; and as a Consultant with the World Bank in Washington, D.C. He has authored and co-authored many publications in leading international journals and has contributed extensively to ADB flagship reports on economic development, infrastructure, cities, employment, and inclusive growth.He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park, USA, and Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Economics from the University of Delhi.
Kumar V. Pratap is Visiting Professor at NCAER. He is also Professor of Practice (Finance and Public Policy) at Shiv Nadar University, and Advisory Board Member, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow. Earlier, he has worked as Deputy Secretary with the Prime Minister’s Office, as Joint Secretary, Infrastructure Policy and Finance with the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, and with the World Bank at Washington D.C.
He has written two books, PPPs in Infrastructure – Managing the Challenges [Springer, 2018] and Infrastructure Financing in India [Oxford University Press, 2024]. He has also published in various national dailies, including The Economic Times, Business Standard, and The Financial Express.
He was a Visiting Professor at the Indian School of Business (Hyderabad and Mohali). He has also lectured at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; London School of Economics; Singapore Management University; Lee Kuan Yew School, Singapore; Duke University; University of Maryland, the World Bank; International Monetary Fund (IMF), SARTTAC; Indian Institutes of Management, Ahmedabad, Indore, Kozhikode, Lucknow, and Shillong; Management Development Institute, (MDI), Gurgaon; National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie; and National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), Delhi.
He has an MBA from IIM, Lucknow and a PhD from University of Maryland, College Park, USA.
Arunima Srivastava is a Research Associate in the States, Sectors, Surveys and Impact Evaluation team at NCAER. She graduated from Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University, and went on to work in the Public Policy & Regulatory vertical at Reliance Retail Limited. She also holds a master’s degree in economics from Lakshmibai College (IGNOU) and has previously interned at EGROW Foundation.
Nivedita Ojha is a Research Associate at the Centre for Gender and Macroeconomy (CGM) at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). She earned her Master’s degree in Economics from Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence and her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Doon University. Her research interests include development economics, international trade, gender economics, and political economy. Prior to joining NCAER, she worked as a Research Assistant at Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence and at the Association for Environment and Development Research (AEDR). She has also served as a Teaching Assistant in undergraduate economics. Her master’s dissertation explored how demographic change influences international trade through the consumption channel.
