Manmohan Singh, the unassuming economist who orchestrated India's transformation into a global economic powerhouse and served two terms as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014, passed away on Thursday. He was 92.
Singh was admitted to the emergency department of AIIMS Delhi after his health worsened. In its medical bulletin, AIIMS Delhi said Singh was being treated for age-related medical conditions and had sudden loss of consciousness at home.
"Resuscitative measures were started immediately at home. He was brought to the Medical Emergency at AIIMS, New Delhi at 8:06 PM. Despite all efforts, he could not be revived and was declared dead at 9:51 PM."
Born in 1932 in Gah, now in Pakistan, Singh’s journey from a modest village to becoming India’s economic architect is remarkable.
Armed with a doctorate in economics from Oxford, Singh’s career as an academic, bureaucrat, and policymaker culminated in 1991 when he stepped into history during India’s dire economic crisis.
As Finance Minister under Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, Singh introduced the New Economic Policy (NEP), a series of reforms that rescued India from near-bankruptcy. Reflecting on those turbulent times, he famously declared, "No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come."
He dismantled the License Raj, reduced trade barriers, and opened India’s economy to foreign investment, marking a shift from a Soviet-style planned economy to a market-oriented one.
Key reforms included the devaluation of the rupee, the liberalisation of foreign investment caps, and fiscal austerity measures such as subsidy reductions.
Singh’s vision modernized India’s banking sector and financial markets, making the rupee partially convertible and attracting global capital. By the mid-1990s, India’s foreign exchange reserves had surged from less than $1 billion to over $10 billion.
Singh’s reforms created a new era of industrial growth and economic vibrancy. Reflecting on this transformation, he later remarked, "The process of development is a gradual unfolding of the potential of people."
In 2004, Singh became India’s 14th Prime Minister, leading the country through years of robust growth. His tenure saw landmark policies like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and a historic civil nuclear deal with the U.S. Despite his reserved demeanor, he often said, "I’ve always thought of myself as a student of history," and his leadership underscored this perspective.