Amit Mitra | |
|---|---|
 Mitra in 2011 | |
| Cabinet Minister Government of West Bengal | |
| In office 2011 - 2021 | |
| Governor | M. K. Narayanan D. Y. Patil(additional charge) Keshari Nath Tripathi Jagdeep Dhankhar |
| Department |
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| Chief Minister | Mamata Banerjee |
| Preceded by |
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| Succeeded by |
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| Department |
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| Member ofWest Bengal Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 2011–2021 | |
| Preceded by | Asim Dasgupta |
| Succeeded by | Kajal Sinha (posthumously) |
| Constituency | Khardaha |
| Principal Advisor(Cabinet Rank) Chief Minister of West Bengal | |
| Assumed office 10 November 2021 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1947-12-20)20 December 1947 (age 77) |
| Political party | Trinamool Congress |
| Spouse | Meera Balakrishnan |
| Children | 1 daughter |
| Relatives | Bela Mitra (mother) Haridas Mitra (father) |
| Alma mater | Presidency University, Kolkata (B.A.) University of Delhi (M.A.) Duke University (Ph.D.) |
| Occupation | Economist Politician |
Amit Mitra is an Indianeconomist andpolitician and the current Special Advisor toChief Minister of West Bengal onFinance. Previously he was the Finance, Commerce & Industries Minister of thegovernment of Indian state ofWest Bengal. He was the incumbentMLA in the West Bengal state assembly from theKhardaha state assembly constituency. Cited as agiant killer in the2011 West Bengal state assembly election defeatingAsim Dasgupta, the former West Bengal Finance Minister.[1][2][3] Mitra previously served as the Secretary general of theFederation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Son ofHaridas Mitra, an independence activist and former Deputy Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly andBela Mitra. His maternal grandfather was Suresh Chandra Bose, elder brother ofNetaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Both Suresh Chandra Bose and Haridas Mitra were part of the secret service team ofAzad Hind Fauj. Bela Mitra took charge of the secret service of Azad Hind Fauj from Haridas Mitra.Belanagar railway station in Howrah district on the Howrah-Bardhaman chord line, is named after her.[4]
Mitra went toCalcutta Boys' School and graduated fromPresidency College when it was an affiliate of theUniversity of Calcutta with a degree in Economics. He was a notable debater in West Bengal inter-college debate competitions.[5] Mitra received a Masters from theDelhi School of Economics,University of Delhi and, in 1978, a PhD fromDuke University in the USA.[4][6] Mitra is included inDuke University's list of distinguished alumni.[6]
He taught atDuke University andFranklin & Marshall College for over a decade before returning to India. He received the prestigious Sears-Roebuck Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching, 1990.[7][8]
He joined theFederation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and rose to be its secretary-general.[4] He resigned as secretary-general of FICCI on 18 May 2011 upon his election as state assembly representative.[9] During his tenure, he transformed FICCI into a professional organisation to research and formulate India's policy during itseconomic liberalisation. The number of conferences organised by FICCI rose from 10 to 500 between 1994 and 2011 and its revenues saw an increase from Rs 3 crore to Rs 110 crore during the period Dr. Mitra presided over its activities.[9]
He served as an Additional Director ofSteel Authority of India Ltd from 25 March 2003 to 24 March 2006. At the request ofMamata Banerjee, the railway minister, he headed a panel to draw up business plans for the public-private partnership projects of the railways. He has been on the government's advisory committee on theWorld Trade Organization and the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council. He was associated with Planning Commission as a member of the expert group on equitable development.[10][11]
Amit Mitra joinedAll India Trinamool Congress on the invitation ofMamata Banerjee[12] and contested during thestate assembly election of 2011 from the Khardaha state assembly constituency. He was attributed agiant killer after the election as he defeated state Finance MinisterAsim Dasgupta by a margin of 26,154 votes.[13] Asim Dasgupta was elected from the Khardaha constituency previously five times in a row during the state assembly elections of 1987, 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006.
Amit Mitra was sworn in as a minister on 20 May 2011 and was given the Finance and Excise portfolio.[14][15]
Amit Mitra has opined that the ‘minimal capital expenditure’ made over a long period by the state government has led to the state of bankruptcy. He feels that the state's financial condition can be improved with a flow of investments and expansion of the state's existing industrial units.[16]
Amit Mitra is aPadma Shree Award Winner fromGovernment of India in the year 2008.[17] The Japanese government conferred the `Order of the Rising Sun' on Amit Mitra in 2005 by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. The award was presented for his contribution towards promotion of friendly relations between India and Japan.[18] He is also the recipient of highest civilian Awards conferred by President of the Republic of Italy in 2007.[8]
