About IIFT

Name     Dr. Surajit Mitra
Email      diroffice@iift.ac.in

Brief Profile

Born in Cuttack (Orissa) on 15^th August, 1952, Dr. Mitra spent his childhood in Orissa where he had his early education.  He was topper of Utkal University and JNU where he post-graduated in Political Studies.  Later in 1983, he completed his Ph.D. in Political Economy from the University of Cambridge.  He was a Fellow of Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford (1998-99) and taught International Trade in the University of Oxford.  He also taught in Delhi University, North Eastern Hill University and JNU between 1974 to 1977.

Dr. Mitra joined IAS in 1977 and was assigned Assam-Meghalaya joint cadre.  He has extensive experience both in the fields of administration as well as at the level of senior management.  Apart from various assignments in the States of Assam and Meghalaya which included Departments of Education, Home, Industry, Rural Development, Social Welfare, Forest and Environment, Tourism, Culture, Geology and Mining, Power, Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, Planning and Development, Public Health Engineering, Public Works Department and Water Resources, he worked as Secretary to the Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya.   

Dr. Mitra during his tenure in the Government of India worked in the Ministries / Departments of Rural Development, Tourism, Communication, Defence, Home, Commerce, Petroleum & Natural Gases, North East Development, Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises and Ministry of Minority Affairs. His most significant contributions in Government of India include: 

(i)                  He was member of the group for formulating the Technology Mission for Rural Drinking Water Supply in the Department of Rural Development.  

(ii)                 As Joint Secretary, Commerce (1993-98), he led the Indian side for ASEAN for trade and commerce.  He was also the founder initiator of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation). 

(iii)                As Joint Secretary, Commerce, in collaboration with RBI, he pioneered the liberalisation of ‘Gold Import Policy’ for allowing import of gold through Banks.   

(iv)               As Financial Advisor to the Ministry of Petroleum (2002-2003), he was responsible for restructuring financial architecture of the petroleum sector after Administrative Price Mechanism (APM) was dismantled in April, 2002.  He was a pioneer for India’s initiative for acquisition of oil fields abroad through govt. PSEs.  He was also the architect of the Revival of Mangalore Refinery Private Ltd. through ONGC.   

(v)                As a Joint Secretary and later Additional Secretary in the Department of Heavy Industries (2005-2009), he looked after Auto Industry and Power Equipment Manufacturing sector. During his tenure with BHEL as a member of the Board, BHEL acquired Super Critical Technology and its capacity was enhanced by 2.5 times.  

(vi)               While in Auto Sector, he authored India’s “Automotive Mission Plan: 2006 to 2016” which was unveiled by the Prime Minister. The Auto Sector showed unprecedented growth in India and eventually emerged as a sun-rise sector.   

(vii)              As Chairman of the Working Group constituted by the Planning Commission, presented the Paper on “Empowerment of Minorities” for preparation of 12^th Five Year Plan.   

Public Sector Experience 

Worked as Managing Director of Meghalaya Tourism Corporation (1991-93). 

Was on the Board of Directors of Navratna CPSUs including ONGC, Indian Oil, GAIL and BHEL. 

Was on the Board of CPSUs including HMT, Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam Ltd., Braithwaite Burn & Jessop (BBJ) Construction Company Ltd., Cement Corporation of India (CCI), Engineering Projects (India) Ltd. (EPI), Hindustan Photo Films Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (HPF), Instrumentation India Ltd. (IL), Tyre Corporation of India Ltd., Scooters India Ltd., Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd. (HPI), Balmer Lawri & Co. Ltd., Tea Trading Corporation of India, Tea Board of India, Coffee Board of India, Rubber Board of India and North East Regional Agriculture Managing Development Corporation etc.  

Was also on the Board of Directors of Maruti Udyog Ltd. (MUL). 

Teaching Experience  

Taught in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, North Eastern Hill University and Oxford University.  

Administrative and Academic Recognition: 

Fellow of Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford (International Trade) (1998-99).,
Hon. Professor in Centre for Policy Research in South – South Cooperation (1998). 

Authorship of some of the Papers / Documents 

1.       National Automotive Mission Plan (2006-16). 

2.       Working Group Paper on “Empowerment of Minorities” submitted to the Planning Commission.  

3.       ‘Energy, Environment and Modernization of Trucking Industry in India’ (A Report prepared for the Planning Commission by a group of eminent scientists and economists under Dr. Mitra’s chairmanship). 

4.       “A Framework for Improvement of Quality, Durability & Project Implementation in National Highways Sector in North East India”.  

5.       “Tea Auction System in India: Need for Change”. 

6.       “India’s Trade with ASEAN: A Framework”.  

7.       “BIMSTEK: A Conceptual Framework”. 

8.       “AFTA & AFTER”, A Research Paper on ASEAN Free Trade Area presented at the Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford University.  

9.       “Empowerment of Minorities”, Working Group Paper prepared for the 12^th Five Year Plan.