Badgaiyan is internet companies' lobby group Indiatech.org's new CEO
, ET Bureau|
Updated: Oct 16, 2017, 08.19 AM IST
BENGALURU: Indiatech.org, the think-tank and lobby group set up by internet companies like Flipkart and Ola, has roped in former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and economist Gyanendra Badgaiyan as the CEO of the organisation, said four sources familiar with the development. Indiatech.org is expected to start staffing up after Badgaiyan formally joins in the next few days.
Badgaiyan was till recently the head of National Centre for Good Governance (NCCG), a government body which guides and helps implement good governance reforms through research, policy analysis, training and advocacy.
ET had reported last month that at least five of the most valued internet companies including Flipkart, Ola and MakeMyTrip have set up an industry body, which will focus on lobbying government for favourable policies for the local players against global competitors. Others who are a part of this include online classifieds player Quikr and messaging application Hike besides large global investment firms who have backed the India internet story.
Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal, who has been voicing his opinion against the aggressive spending of companies like US-based online retail giant Amazon in India, will be the founding president and chairman.
Messages sent to Badgaiyan did not elicit a response at the time of filing this article.
Before NCCG, Badgaiyan was chief economist at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a research fellow at the UN University. He was an IAS officer from 1991to 2013 where he served in various policy and field-level positions including as finance secretary and collector. Badgaiyan studied economics at Delhi School of Economics and Cambridge University. He has a PhD from Princeton University.
Indiatech.org has been in the works for over a year now, with Bansal leading the charge. The group believes that if home-grown internet firms do not succeed, India will likely lose $10 billion of FDI per year, $1 billion of tax revenues per year and 1 million jobs that could have been created based on numbers extrapolated from China, according to those familiar with the group's thinking.
Setting up of Indiatech.org is expected to give home-grown internet companies a cohesive voice and structured platform to push their policy initiative, which has been missing till now.
Badgaiyan was till recently the head of National Centre for Good Governance (NCCG), a government body which guides and helps implement good governance reforms through research, policy analysis, training and advocacy.
ET had reported last month that at least five of the most valued internet companies including Flipkart, Ola and MakeMyTrip have set up an industry body, which will focus on lobbying government for favourable policies for the local players against global competitors. Others who are a part of this include online classifieds player Quikr and messaging application Hike besides large global investment firms who have backed the India internet story.
Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal, who has been voicing his opinion against the aggressive spending of companies like US-based online retail giant Amazon in India, will be the founding president and chairman.
Messages sent to Badgaiyan did not elicit a response at the time of filing this article.
Before NCCG, Badgaiyan was chief economist at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a research fellow at the UN University. He was an IAS officer from 1991to 2013 where he served in various policy and field-level positions including as finance secretary and collector. Badgaiyan studied economics at Delhi School of Economics and Cambridge University. He has a PhD from Princeton University.
Indiatech.org has been in the works for over a year now, with Bansal leading the charge. The group believes that if home-grown internet firms do not succeed, India will likely lose $10 billion of FDI per year, $1 billion of tax revenues per year and 1 million jobs that could have been created based on numbers extrapolated from China, according to those familiar with the group's thinking.
Setting up of Indiatech.org is expected to give home-grown internet companies a cohesive voice and structured platform to push their policy initiative, which has been missing till now.
