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India Business Initiative

Welcome to the India Business Initiative, a platform for Columbia Business School faculty and alumni to connect with each other and with industry leaders and policy makers on all things India-related.

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Research

The India Business Initiative draws on the expertise of world-class faculty members and business leaders to help shape the thinking and discourse on major global business issues.

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Events

The India Business Initiative organizes and sponsors numerous opportunities for Columbia Business School, faculty, and alumni to connect with each other and with industry leaders and policy makers on all things India-related.

India Business Initiative

Welcome to the India Business Initiative (IBI). I invite you to browse through our website, which contains our mission statement, information about faculty and industry advisory board members, faculty research interests pertaining to India, student activities, and events that we have planned for the near future.

Please don’t hesitate to offer me suggestions and comments for making IBI better so that we can engage the Columbia community more actively with India in future. Email [email protected] to give feedback.

Suresh Sundaresan
Chase Manhattan Bank Professor of Economics and Finance
Columbia Business School

Related Content

New Research

Detecting Urban Markets with Satellite Imagery: An Application to India

Daytime satellite data are a promising source for the study of urban forms, says Chazen Senior Scholar Amit Khandelwal in a new paper.

Read the paper →

Preventing Wasted Seat Allocations in Government-Funded Engineering Colleges

Each year, thousands of seats remain unfilled at premier technology schools in India. Chazen Senior Scholar Yashodhan Kanoria has proposed a way to end the waste.

Read a news article about the research →
Read the Chazen Institute–sponsored research →

A Model of Infrastructure Financing

Infrastructure projects often require large investment and have long gestation periods, which makes them unattractive to private sector firms and outside investors. This research offers a model for attracting more private sector financing.

Private Returns to Public Office

An examination of wealth accumulation of Indian parliamentarians using public disclosures. The researchers found that candidates who were elected fared only marginally better than runners-up.

Prices, Markups, and Trade Reform

This paper examines how prices, markups, and marginal costs respond to trade liberalization. The researchers offer a framework to estimate markups from production data with multiproduct firms.

Announcements

Read Chairman Gaurav Dalmia’s speech to CBS students, “Leadership Lessons from Indian Philosophy” during their recent visit to Dalmia Holdings Group.

The India Business Initiative was a cosponsor of a daylong conference, "Back to the Future: Is Socialism Striking Again?", organized by the Raj Center for Economic Policies. Download the event report >

In January 2019, top policymakers and business leaders analyzed one of India's most important reforms: The 2016 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
View event photos on Facebook →
View event videos with Injeti Srinivas, Rajnish Kumar, and a panel discussion on Youtube →
Download the report →

News

India Business Initiative News

May 20, 2019

One Company’s Path to AI

From bits and bytes to thinking machines: Rahul Kanodia '94 has repeatedly transformed his company to create a global powerhouse.

February 7, 2019

India Leapfrogs to Bankruptcy Reform

At a recent Chazen Institute’s recent symposium in Mumbai, Shri Injeti Srinivas, Secretary to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, offered a vehement defense of the recent Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code — a law that will make the country an easier and more attractive place to do business. Below is an excerpt of his remarks.

May 11, 2018

The Good Thing about Fluctuating Wind and Solar

Wind and solar complement each other as renewable energy sources, says Geoffrey Heal, Chazen Senior Scholar and Donald C. Waite III Professor of Social Enterprise. He spoke at the Chazen Institute’s India Business Initiative conference in Mumbai on January 15, 2018.

April 27, 2018

The Exploding Popularity of Green Bonds

Patrick Bolton, Barbara and David Zalaznick Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, outlines how many countries, in particular China and India, have issued “Green Bonds” to hedge climate risk in the market. A Chazen Senior Scholar, Professor Bolton presented at the Chazen Institute’s India Business Initiative conference in Mumbai on January 15, 2018.

April 13, 2018

India Overestimates Losses in Renewable Growth Projections

India should not fear steep GDP growth drop-offs as it shifts to renewable energy, says Shri Jairam Ramesh, an economist and Member of Parliament for Andhra Pradesh, and guest speaker at the Chazen Institute’s India Business Initiative conference in Mumbai on January 15, 2018.

April 6, 2018

Solar Panels and Batteries: A Cheap Rural Energy Source

Geoffrey Heal, Donald C. Waite III Professor of Social Enterprise and Chazen Senior Scholar at Columbia Business School, shares how Columbia University faculty are bringing renewable energy to rural communities around the world. Professor Heal presented at the Chazen Institute’s India Business Initiative conference in Mumbai on January 15, 2018.

March 20, 2018

Four Demographic Realities of Renewable Energy in India

Shri Jairam Ramesh, an economist and Member of Parliament for Andhra Pradesh, outlines India’s unique challenges for planning the country’s transition to renewable energy sources. He spoke at the Chazen Institute’s India Business Initiative conference in Mumbai on January 15, 2018.

March 20, 2018

How Investors Can Profit and Reduce Climate Risk

What should investors do if they want to reduce their climate risk? Patrick Bolton, Chazen Senior Scholar and Barbara and David Zalaznick Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, shares an effective strategy at the Chazen Institute’s India Business Initiative conference in Mumbai on January 15, 2018.

March 20, 2018

How Renewables Are Undercutting Fossil Fuels

Wind and solar energy are now cheaper than nuclear, gas, and coal. Geoffrey Heal, Chazen Senior Scholar and Donald C. Waite III Professor of Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School traces the trends at the Chazen Institute’s India Business Initiative conference in Mumbai on January 15, 2018.

March 20, 2018

India and Solar: “The Right Place at the Right Time”

Rahul Shah, CEO & Executive Director, Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd., says the stars are aligned for India to transition to renewable energy now. Mr. Shah spoke on a panel at the Chazen Institute’s India Business Initiative conference in Mumbai on January 15, 2018.