Shaibal Gupta

Shaibal Gupta ( – 28 January 2021) was an Indian social scientist and political economist whose work focused on the economy of the Indian state of Bihar. He was the founder and member-secretary of the Asian Development Research Institute in Patna, Bihar. His research was a contributor to the rollout for various state government led societal development programs and economic reforms in the state.

Gupta received the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honor, posthumously in 2022.

Education Gupta's early schooling took place in Sainik School Tilaiya, he later received a Master of Arts in economics in 1977 from Patna University. He went on to complete his PhD in economics in 1981.

Gupta's research focused on the structure of the Bihar's economy as well as on various development issues in Bihar from a political economy perspective. An economist by profession, he focused on industrial economics, studying the political economy and trying to derive linkages between the capitalist transformation of India and the implied implications on societal growth. He also studied Bihar's industrial sector and compared the political economies of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, adjacent states, to drive an understanding of the linkage between governance models and growth. In a statement on his death, Bihar's chief minister Nitish Kumar recounted the contributions made by Gupta for Bihar's economic reforms. Representing Bihar in the committee, Gupta gave his dissent note for the final recommendation report of the committee. Speaking about his dissent, he would later say that the dissent was a technical critique of variables that went into the Index developed by the committee. Specifically, he had advocated for the inclusion of per capita income instead of monthly per capita income and the inclusion of variables like per capita electrical connectivity, infant mortality, and female literacy among other variables. He held advisory positions in various governmental committees including membership of the Bihar state finance commission, the committee on land acquisition, committee on financial resources, and the Indian government expert group of the planning commission. and Member Executive Committee, of the Indian government's National literacy mission (NLM).

Gupta received the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honor, posthumously in 2022.

Personal life and death Gupta was the son of social worker, medical practitioner and art historian Piyushendu Gupta. The family hailed from Begusarai in Bihar where his father had a medical practice before moving to Patna.

Gupta was married and the couple had a daughter.

Published works