Pahle India Foundation

PIF is a not-for-profit policy think tank, established in June 2013 by Dr. Rajiv Kumar. It is a Section 8 company duly certified under the FCRA.

At PIF, we undertake analytical research and disseminate its findings both to policy makers and in the public domain. The driving vision in all that we do is “Putting India First to make India First.” PIF’s aim is to emerge as a credible, trustworthy and neutral platform to bring together various economic agents like firms, farmers, academics, professionals and civil society on the one hand, and policy makers on the other. The idea is to create the necessary synergies and trust between the principle stakeholders viz government, industry, academia and civil society. We consider this to be a key condition for ensuring India’s success in global markets and to put the Indian economy on a higher growth trajectory while generating high quality employment and improving equity.

PIF currently has an analytically strong team of dedicated researchers who are self-motivated. Our team specialises in analyzing India’s political economy and its engagement across verticals that are relatively underworked areas. Over the last 10 years we have been successful in creating a niche for PIF in the research and think tank space in the country.

PIF's VISION FOR 2018-2028

Pahle India Foundation is a unique think tank that takes on the tough challenge of facilitating policy change in India and other emerging economies; not merely making policy recommendations that abound.
Facilitating policy change requires focusing on the last mile of creating a trust based dialogue between economic agents (firms, entrepreneurs, innovators) and policy makers (political leadership, bureaucracy, judiciary and other government agencies).
This dialogue must be based on rigorous and objective research that is deeply and sincerely rooted in Indian ground realities captured through surveys and discussions that engage concerned stakeholders, and are undertaken with the exclusive goal of serving India’s national interests.
The single line description of India’s national interests that PIF adheres to is – to make India a global leader in all aspects by 2047 when we celebrate the centenary of our independence.

THE MISSION:

Recognising the primacy of action, presenting the output of PIF research as workable recommendations that are discussed at closed door sessions that bring together all stakeholders for better absorption by desk officers and change agents and subsequent implementation that is monitored by PIF.

Recognising India’s vibrant democratic environment, publicly disseminating the policy action plan in a calibrated, systematic and persistent manner in Hindi, English and local languages, for maximising popular support and influencing public opinion.

Recognising the absence of globally comparable indigenous Indian think tanks, building world class specialisation and attracting the best Indian talent in selected sectors, regions and themes and doing so in a phased manner for regular quality improvement through learning on the job.

Recognising the critical importance of performing and being perceived as a fiercely autonomous, independent think tank devoted exclusively to the pursuit of India’s national interests, mobilising a sufficiently large corpus of financial resources to guarantee these traits.

THE WORK PROGRAM

While reserving the flexibility for responding to changing ground realities in India and its external environment, initial focus of PIF’s work will be on the following sectors/themes and countries/regions: