Amit Mitra

Amit Mitra Biography

Amit Mitra is an Indian economist and politician belonging to All India Trinamool Congress. He is the current Finance, Commerce & Industries Minister of the Indian state of West Bengal. He was elected from  Khardaha state assembly constituency in 2011, defeating Asim Dasgupta, former minister. He has previously served as the Secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He is the son of Hari Mitra, a noted politician from West Bengal.

He was born in Bengal as the son of Hari Mitra, a former Deputy Speaker of the West Bengal legislative assembly and Bela Mitra. His maternal grandfather Suresh Chandra Bose was the elder brother of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Belanagar, a railway station on the Howrah-Bardhaman chord line, is named after his mother Bela Mitra. His school education was done at Boys’ school, Kolkata and graduation from Presidency College, University of Calcutta. He was graduated in Economics. Mitra completed Masters’ degree from the Delhi School of Economics and, in 1978, a PhD from Duke University in the USA. Then he worked as faculty at Duke University and Franklin & Marshall College for over a decade before returning to India.

After his return to India, he joined the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and gradually he reached its secretary-general position. He transformed FICCI into a professional organisation to research and formulate India's policy during its economic liberalisation. He resigned from the post in 2011 and participated in Assembly elections where he was elected. He served as an Additional Director of Steel Authority of India during the period 2003 to 2006. Mitra was also a Member on the Advisory Board of the India Fund of the Unit Trust of India.

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Updated: January 21, 2014