Arup Mitra


Arup Mitra is an Indian academician, currently serving as the Professor of Economics, South Asian University, New Delhi and previously served as Director General of National Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development.
His research interests include development economics, labour and welfare, industrial productivity growth and employment, urban development, and gender inequality. He authored in Encyclopaedia of Life Support Systems Mathematical Models in Economics, developed under UNESCO, Encyclopaedia of Sustainability. and the Handbook of Labour, Human Resources and Population Economy.

Early life and career

Arup Mitra completed his MA in Economics, M. Phil. and Ph.D from Delhi School of Economics. His title for the PhD thesis was Urbanisation, Slums and Informal Sector: Interconnections and Interregional Variations. Thereafter he also obtained a Post Doctorate Degree from Northwestern University Evanston, USA. His supervisor was Professor Edwin S. Mills and the title of the work was "Urban Development and Urban Ills."
He previously worked as a Professor of Economics at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. He also served as the Director General of NILERD, Government of India.
Arup served as a member of various committees such as the Chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee for City GDP Estimation, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, member of Expert Group Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey by Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India and pursued research sponsored by WHO and projects by other organisations
He is also on editorial board of various journals such as Indian Journal of Labour Economics, editorial board member of International Journal of Sustainable Development Research and other journals.

Books

Some of the books, he has authored and coauthored, include the following:
  • Barriers to Employment: Impact of Macro, Individual and Enterprise-level Variables, Springer Brief, 2023,
  • Urban Headway and Upward Mobility in India, Cambridge University Press, 2020.
  • Climate change, Livelihood Diversification and well-being: The case of rural Odisha" Springer Brief, 2021.
  • Labour Force Participation in India, Springer Brief in Economics, Springer, 2018,.
  • Corruption and Development in Indian Economy, Cambridge University Press, 2016.
  • Industry-led Growth: Issues and Facts, Springer Brief in Economics, Springer, 2016.
  • Insight into Inclusive Growth, Employment and Wellbeing in India, Springer, 2013.
  • Occupational Choices, Networks and Transfers: An Exegesis Based on Micro Data from Delhi Slums, Manohar Publishers, New Delhi, 2003.
  • Urban Development and Urban Ills, Commonwealth Publishers, New Delhi, 1997,.
  • Urbanisation, Slums, Informal Sector Employment and Poverty: An Exploratory Study B.R. Pub. Corp., Delhi, 1994.
Some of the books he has edited include:
  • Youth in Indian Labour Market: Issues, Challenges and Policies, Springer, 2024..
  • Economic Growth in India and Its Many Dimensions, Orient BlackSwan, 2018.
  • Studies in Macro Economics and Welfare, Academic Foundation, Delhi, 2005.
He has also authored books published in English Literature such as Awakening,, In Search of the Lotus-feet, Light on the Lotus, Poverty Profile, A Letter to Mother, Spread the Wings, and other books.