Contributor : Profile

Sunil Mani is an economist and academic with expertise in the economics of technology and innovation. He was formerly Director and Reserve Bank of India Chair Professor at the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram, and is presently a visiting professor at CDS and Ahmedabad University. 

Dr Mani holds graduate and doctoral degrees in economics from Loyola College (University of Madras) and Jawaharlal Nehru University, respectively, and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford as a Ford Foundation Fellow. 

His career includes pivotal academic appointments at institutions such as UNU-MERIT (Maastricht) and visiting professorships at Bocconi University, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (Tokyo), and University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès. With an H-index of 27 (Google Scholar) and 10 (SCOPUS), his research is widely cited, and he serves on editorial boards as well as a peer reviewer for leading international journals. Dr Mani's policy engagement includes contributions to India's Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (2020) and service as Vice-Chair of the International Advisory Committee of CeSTII, South Africa. His forthcoming book, "India's High-Tech Leap: Industrial Policy and the Future of Innovation," will be published by Edward Elgar in January 2026.