Shalini is Principal Economist, Asia at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). She is an expert on macroeconomic issues in South Asia with specific interest in business cycles, monetary policy and financial stability, debt and fiscal sustainability, macroeconomic modelling, labor market issues, structural transformational issues and income inequality. As Principal Economist, Asia, she leads a team of analysts across the Asia looking after quality of content.

Prior to her role at the EIU, she worked with the Asian Development Bank focusing on India and South Asia. She has contributed regularly to the Economist forum, Asian Development Outlook, ADB-India’s country partnership strategy and a number of policy based loans for India and South Asia such as COVID CARES loan, APVAX, early childhood development and multimodal logistics policy. She has nearly 10 years of experience working with public policy think tanks, international organisations and multinational companies in London and India.

Shalini holds a BSc and MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and also worked there as a graduate teaching assistant.

Karthik Nachiappan is Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. His research focuses on India’s Geo-economics, covering issues like international trade, investment, and technology.

Working in Tata Steel , a manufacturing industry for three decades, across various functions and domains, Ms Basu has an in depth understanding of the materiality across value chain which has helped her gain expertise in leading complex projects from Conceptualization to Implementation , Realise value added benefits in collaboration with stakeholders ,Coaching Key Talent across Tata Group Companies and managing relationship with external stakeholders .

As the Resident Director and Board member of Tata steel Global Procurement Company PTE Ltd., a 10 Bn USD Company, she is Responsible for Governance and Statutory compliance aspects, Relationship management with stakeholders and advocacy with Government Bodies. She is Responsible for executing Customer and Supplier contracts for Ferro Chrome Exports and Raw material and Freight Chartering Contracts.

Her Core Competencies include Managing large Scale transformation Program across functions, Internal and External Stakeholder management, Relationship management and advocacy with Government Bodies Drive fact-based recommendations for Risk management Committee of Tata Steel Board to establish a risk intelligent culture in the organization.

Under her leadership, Tata Steel has won several prestigious awards in the field of risk management such as the CII Golden Peacock Award and CNBC India Risk Management Awards.

Ms. Basu joined Tata Steel as a Graduate Trainee, having done her Electrical Engineering. She has a MBA Degree from Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur. She holds Board positions in Three Tata Steel Subsidiaries.

A recipient of the British Council’s “Chevening Scholarship” for Leadership at the London School of Economics, she has also won the National Competition for Young Managers organized by All India Management Association (AIMA) at New Delhi. She has been honoured with the “Women of Mettle” Title by Tata Steel.

In her free time, she loves to listen to Music and do gardening.

Sumana is a senior policy professional with 17 years of experience. Having worked at several dynamic and vibrant tech firms, Sumana designs and implements policies through advocacy, strategic communication and evidence-based analysis. With a flair for writing and communication, Sumana is able to negotiate complex engagements & cultivate senior-level internal/external relationships.

Sumana holds a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Michigan, as well as a B.A. in Political Science and Geography from UCLA.