Rangarajan to head PM's Economic Advisory Council

NEW DELHI: Renowned economist C Rangarajan, who was the the chairman of the Twelfth Finance Commission, was on Wednesday appointed chairman of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister with cabinet rank.

The council would also have four members with the rank of Ministers of State, an official release said here.

The members are Suresh Tendulkar (former director of Delhi School of Economics), G K Chadda (Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Govinda Rao (Director General of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy) and Saumitra Chaudhuri (Economic Advisor of credit rating agency Icra).

The council will advise on policy matters refered to it by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from time to time besides preparing monthly report at home and abroad, it said, adding that it would also monitor economic trends on a regular basis and bring to Singh''s notice important developments.

Rangarjan, a former Reserve Bank Governor and Andhra Pradesh Governor, had recently submitted to President A P J Abdul Kalam the Twelfth Finance Commission report on devolution of resources from Centre to states for 2005-10.