Profile

Professor Dholakia was an Economics Area faculty at IIM Ahmedabad from 1985 to April 2018 when he superannuated. He received the Most Distinguished Faculty Award for the year 2017-18 at IIMA. He has about 41 years of experience of teaching Economics to different groups like students, executives, policy makers and senior government officers. He was a regular visiting faculty to teach at the European Management Institute (ESCP-EAP), Paris, from 2002 to 2005. He has collaborated on a series of research projects with the Earth Institute of Columbia University from 2004-05 to 2012-13. He has considerable practical experience working in high powered policy making and evaluation bodies in both the Central and state governments in India. He was a Member of the Monetary Policy Committee of India that decides the policy rates (2016 onwards). He was a member of the Sixth Central Pay Commission (2006-08) deciding revision of the pay and pension of more than 10 million employees in India. He was also a Member of the High Level Committees on Leveraging Postal Network in India (2014), HR Issues in the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines (May 2011- Jan.2012), Public Expenditure Management (2009-10), and on Savings and Investment Estimation (2008-09) appointed by the Government of India; a Member of the Expert Committee on Restructuring of the State Public Sector Units (2004-08), the Public Debt Management Committee (2005-06), and the State Public Finance Reform Committee (1998-2000) appointed by the Government of Gujarat. He has chaired a Committee on Financial Sector Statistics (2016-18) and a Committee on Sub-National Accounts appointed by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India (2018 onwards) and had chaired a Committee on Cost Saving and Resource Use Optimisation in Air India appointed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India (2013).

He has carried out numerous consulting assignments in the private and public sector companies in India and has done work for international organisations like WHO, UNICEF, World Bank, UNDP, Hewlett Foundation, United Nations, UN-Mongolia, etc. He has written about 47 monographs, 23 books, and more than 140 research papers published in journals of national and international repute. He has also developed 15 international cases on economic planning and policy reforms based on experiences of countries in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean Islands, and North America. He has guided 39 students successfully and 2 students are currently working under him for doctoral degree. He has served as an independent director on the Boards of Gujarat State Financial Services, National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, Power Finance Corporation, State Trading Corporation, Air India, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Enterprises, Adani Transmission, Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, Union Bank of India, etc. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA); Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad; Centre for Multi-Disciplinary Development Research, Dharwad; Institute of Human Development, New Delhi; Indian School of Political Economy, Pune; and Member of Academic Council of Dharamsinh Desai University, Nadiad. He presided over the Indian Health Economics and Policy Association during 2012-13 and was elected unanimously as the President of The Indian Econometric Conference for 2019-20.