Rama Bijapurkar

Senior Fellow

Center for Inclusive Growth

Chairperson

People Research on India's Consumer Economy

Ms. Rama Bijapurkar is a recognized thought leader on business market strategy for emerging markets and on India’s consumer economy. Rama has her own consulting company and works across a range of sectors and organizations ranging from large global firms to leading edge local startups. She is also the founder and chairperson of People Research on India’s consumer economy (ICE 360°), a new research center designed to build and disseminate seminal knowledge on India’s consumer economy, one of the main pillars of India’s growth story.

Rama has been an independent director on the boards of several of India’s blue chip companies. She presently serves on the boards of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited, Janalakshmi Financial Services Limited and Redington Gulf FZE. Past boards include Infosys Limited, Axis Bank, Godrej Consumer Products Limited, Titan Industries, CRISIL (Standard & Poor’s India), Mahindra Holiday & Resorts India Limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited.

Presently, Rama is a member of the governing council of the Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (RBI nominee), the Insurance Information Board – set up by the insurance regulator, and the Eminent Persons Advisory Group of the Competition Commission of India. She serves on the board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and on the governing council of the National Institute of Bank Management.

A regular visiting faculty member at IIM Ahmedabad, Rama offers a course based on her consulting experience. Her course has become a book entitled, “Customer in the Boardroom? Crafting Customer-Based Business Strategy” (Sage). A dominant voice in the Indian media on business and policy issues, Rama writes on issues of interest to business, policy-makers and society. She is also the author of what is considered globally to be the most definitive book on Consumer India, “We are like that only: Understanding the Logic of Consumer India” (Indian edition, Penguin; International English; Chinese edition, entitled, “Winning in the Indian Market”, John Wiley). Her most recent book on Consumer India is  “A Never-Before World: Tracking the evolution of Consumer India” (Penguin).

Rama holds a BSc (Hons) degree in physics from the University of Delhi, and a post-graduate diploma in management (equivalent to an MBA) from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Past work experience includes employment with Mode Market Research (now TNS India), MARG marketing and research group (now Nielsen India), McKinsey & Company, and full-time consulting with Hindustan Lever (now Hindustan Unilever).