SRINAGAR: Noted economist and the last finance minister of Jammu and Kashmir state, Dr Haseeb A Drabu, has been invited to deliver the Dr Raja J Chelliah Memorial Lecture for 2026, one of India’s most prestigious annual lectures in the field of public finance and economic policy. Dr Drabu will speak on “Federalism in India: Sub-national Architecture for a Regulated Open Economy” at 3:30 pm on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, at the Madras School of Economics (MSE) Auditorium.
Instituted by the Madras School of Economics, the memorial lecture honours the legacy of Dr Raja J Chelliah, widely regarded as India’s pioneering and most distinguished public finance economist. Dr Chelliah laid the intellectual foundations for the modernisation of India’s direct and indirect tax regimes and played a central role in shaping post-liberalisation fiscal reforms. He served as Chairman of the Tax Reforms Committee (1991), was a member of the Planning Commission and the Administrative Reforms Commission, and held senior positions with international institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank. In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2007.
Dr Drabu’s selection for the 2026 lecture places him in a distinguished line of speakers who have shaped India’s economic discourse over the past decades. Previous Chelliah Memorial Lectures have been delivered by former Reserve Bank of India Governors Dr C Rangarajan, Dr Y V Reddy, and Dr Urjit Patel, as well as leading policymakers and economists such as Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission; Vijay Kelkar, Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission; and Arvind Subramanian, former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India.
A renowned economist, Dr Haseeb A Drabu, has made significant contributions to fiscal policy and economic federalism at both the state and national levels. During his career, he has served as a member of the Planning Commission, the Finance Commission, the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, and the GST Council. He has also held key leadership roles, including Finance Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Bank. His work has consistently focused on issues of federal finance, institutional reform, and the political economy of development.
The Dr Raja J Chelliah Memorial Lecture is an annual public lecture series organised by leading economic research institutions, including the Madras School of Economics and the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. It provides an institutional platform for eminent economists and policymakers to engage with contemporary challenges in public finance, taxation, macroeconomic management, and fiscal federalism.
With its focus on India’s evolving federal architecture in an increasingly regulated and open economy, Dr Drabu’s lecture is expected to make a meaningful contribution to current debates on centre-state fiscal relations and economic governance, while continuing the intellectual tradition established by Dr Raja J Chelliah.
