A member of the Board of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Dr. Vijay Kelkar is one of India’s pre-eminent economists. He was the Finance Secretary and Chairman of the Thirteenth Finance Commission of India. Known as the architect of the Goods & Services Tax (GST), Dr. Kelkar was Advisor to the Minister of Finance, Government of India from 2002 to 2004. In 1999, he was nominated as Executive Director of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka on the Board of the International Monetary Fund. Dr. Kelkar is also Chairperson of a committee constituted by the Government of India on revisiting and revitalizing the PPP model of infrastructure development, and Chairman for a committee constituted by the Government of India to prepare a roadmap for enhancing the domestic production of oil and gas with sustainable reduction in import dependency by 2030. He was also the Chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute and the India Development Foundation, and has held various notable positions in government, public and private sectors. For his services to the country, Dr. Kelkar was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award, in January 2011.