NCAER appoints Suresh Goyal as director general, to take charge on Jan 5

The New Delhi-based think tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) on Monday appointed Suresh Goyal as its 11th director general.

 

Goyal will assume charge on January 5, 2026, succeeding Poonam Gupta, who vacated the position after being appointed deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Gupta headed the economic policy research think tank from July 2021 to April 2025.

 

Goyal was formerly the managing director and chief executive officer of the National Highway Infra Trust (NHIT), which was set up by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the National Highways Authority of India to support the National Monetisation Pipeline. Goyal also has experience in the private sector, with his last stint being at Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets as senior managing director and head of India and South-East Asia, based in Singapore.

 

“I look forward to working closely with NCAER’s leaders and dedicated staff as we pivot the organisation towards new directions while leveraging the core that has been built over decades. Together, we will enable NCAER to help the country become Viksit Bharat,” NCAER said in a statement quoting Goyal.

 

NCAER was established in 1956 as a public-private partnership by the then commerce minister TT Krishnamachari and JRD Tata. The current governing board of NCAER includes senior corporate leaders like Mukesh Ambani and Sanjeev Puri, as well as Anuradha Thakur, the economic affairs secretary in the Ministry of Finance.

 

“We are delighted to welcome Mr Suresh Goyal as the new director general of NCAER. His leadership comes at a pivotal moment for NCAER as we pursue the aggressive goals of expanding our endowment, creating multiple research centres, and working closely with the central and state governments, thus amplifying our role in shaping India’s growth and development agenda,” said Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the NCAER governing board.