Finmin to hold first Arun Jaitley Memorial Lecture on July 8

Senior Singaporean Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam will deliver the first Arun Jaitley Memorial Lecture on July 8 which will also be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Department of Economic Affairs, under the Finance Ministry, has instituted this lecture in recognition of Jaitley for his valuable contributions to the Indian economy.

Jaitley was the finance minister between 2014 and 2019 as part of the first term of the Modi government. He died in August 2019.

Briefing reporters about the lecture, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said it will be held every year to recognise Jaitley’s contribution to nation building.

Recalling some of these contributions, he cited introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and recapitalisation of banks.

The annual lectures will be on topical economic issues affecting India and the global economy, with a keynote address by a renowned economic thinker.

Shanmugaratnam, who previously was the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, will deliver his address on growth and inclusivity.

Simultaneously, the Department of Economic Affairs in association with the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) will be holding the Kautilya Economic Conclave between July 8-10.

Delegates from 21 countries, including Robert Lawrence, Professor of International Trade and investment, Harvard Kennedy School; Martin Wolf, Associate Editor of the Financial Times; Shaktikanta Das, Governor, Reserve Bank India; Amitabh Kant, former CEO, NITI Aayog; and Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics.