Annual Convocation 2021

Chief Guest - Convocation 2021

We at IIM Calcutta were thrilled to have our own Alumnus, Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian, who was in the Institute's honour roll of our 34th Batch (1997-99) Post Graduate Program (MBA) -- as the Chief Guest for the 56th Annual Convocation held on May 15, 2021.

His contribution to the nation, in his capacity as the Chief Economic Advisor makes us very proud. He exemplifies the service rendered, "with distinction", by our graduates not only in the corporate and social arenas but also at the level where policy of nations is decided.

Nations are built by leaders, and we at IIM Calcutta are the crucible where leaders are forged.

Dr. Krishnamurthy V Subramanian
Chief Economic Adviser
Government of India

Dr. K V Subramanian, currently Chief Economic Adviser to Government of India, is a leading expert on economic policy, banking and corporate governance. A PhD from Chicago Booth and a top-ranking IIT- IIM alumnus, he authored the path-breaking Economic Survey that commends “Ethical Wealth Creation” for a prosperous India. By integrating India's rich economic and spiritual heritage with modern economic ideas, he advocates ethical wealth creation through a marriage of the invisible hand of the market with the hand of ethics, i.e. a marriage of Artha with Dharma.

The 2019 Economic Survey – authored by Dr Subramanian – laid out the Strategic Blueprint for India to become a $5 trillion economy by generating a “virtuous cycle” where private investment, growth, and consumption feed into each other. In the 2021 Economic Survey, he advocated counter-cyclical fiscal policy using public capital expenditure to trigger the “virtuous cycle” following the Covid crisis. Drawing on the ideas advocated in his three Economic Surveys (2019, 2020 and 2021), India’s economic policy toward a self-reliant India is now characterised by: (i) sharp focus on economic growth to complement efficient welfare by generating the resources to fund the welfare programs; (ii) growth via private sector occupying the commanding heights of the economy; and (iii) “virtuous cycle” of growth via public investment and structural reforms to enhance both aggregate supply and aggregate demand. The slew of structural reforms implemented by the Government – the enterprise policy focused on the private sector with Government occupying minimal space in business, privatisation including those of public sector banks, opening up of several sectors for private competition, labour law reforms, farm reforms, modified MSME definitions to avoid the problem of dwarfism, creation of Development Financial Institutions both in the public and private sectors, infrastructure-driven push to crowd in private investment and thereby generate the “virtuous cycle”, tax rate cuts to make India’s tax regime among the most competitive in the world – draw on the ideas advocated by Dr. Subramanian in these three Economic Surveys.

Subramanian has brought several ideas to implement welfare programs effectively. His push for the behavioural economics of ‘Nudge’ is acknowledged for its potential to bring behavioural change in India. His idea of Thalinomics – what a common person pays for a vegetarian or non-vegetarian thali – has been acclaimed as the Indian Big Mac Index. Combined with the idea of The Bare Necessities index to measure the reach of water, sanitation, a healthy environment to the common citizen, these ideas enable robust measurement of the reach of welfare programs across India’s large population. Dr Subramanian is on leave from the Indian School of Business, where he is a Professor of Finance. Dr Subramanian has been conferred the Distinguished Alumnus award by his alma mater IIT-Kanpur. Apart from being the youngest Chief Economic Adviser, Subramanian is among the youngest to receive this honour from his alma mater. His research in banking, law and finance, innovation and economic growth, and corporate governance has been published in the world's leading journals.

PROGRAMME SCHEDULE :

i. Invocation 3:00 PM
ii. Convocation to be declared 'Open' by the Chairperson,Board of Governors 3:04 PM
iii. Introduction of the Chief Guest and Presentation of Annual Report by the Director 3:05 PM
iv. Announcement of Prizes by the Programme Chairpersons 3:35 PM
v. Address by the Chairperson, Board of Governors 3:55 PM
vi. Convocation Address by the Chief Guest 4:10 PM
vii. Thank you note to the Chief Guest by the Director 4:40 PM
viii. Announcement of the Degree of Ph.D. to graduated Doctoral students (2020) 4:45 PM
ix. Award of the Degree of Ph.D. to graduating Doctoral students (2021) 4:47 PM
x. Announcement of Degree for graduated 55th Batch MBA Students 4:50 PM
xi. Award of Degree to graduating 56th Batch MBA Students 5:15 PM
xii. Announcement of Degree for graduated 13th Batch of MBA for Executives Students 5:40 PM
xiii. Award of Degree to graduating MBA for Executives Students (14th Batch) 5:45 PM
xiv. Award of Diploma to graduating PGDBA Students (4th Batch) 5:55 PM
xv. Announcement by Chairperson, PGPEX-VLM 6:05 PM
xvi. Vote of Thanks by the Chairperson, MBA Programme 6:10 PM
xvii. Convocation to be declared 'Closed' by the Chairperson, Board of Governors 6:18 PM
xviii. National Anthem 6:19 PM
xix. Convocation Ends 6:20 PM