India’s National Council for Applied Economic Research


In the 1950s, India was a young nation without an effective economic development infrastructure. With funding from the Ford Foundation, in 1955, SRI conceived of India’s nonprofit National Council for Applied Economic Research. Many SRI staff members helped train the Center’s Indian staff in investigative techniques and practices.

This non-government, contract research-based organization, established in 1956, was unlike anything in India at the time. More than 50 years later, it is perhaps the best, most unbiased, and most often quoted source in India for a wide range of economic, consumer and labor information.

Since the early 1950s, SRI has provided economic development research, analysis, and advice to more than 100 countries.


Read more from SRI

  • surgeons around a surgical robot

    The SRI research behind today’s surgical robotics

    Intuitive’s da Vinci 5 system represents a major leap in robotic-assisted medicine. It all started at SRI, which continues to advance teleoperation technologies.

  • a collage of digital graphs

    A banner year for quantum

    SRI-managed QED-C’s annual report on quantum trends captures an industry accelerating rapidly from technical promise toward major global impact.

  • ICE Cube containing SRI’s aerogel experiment, photographed prior to launch. Source: Aerospace Applications North America

    An SRI carbon capture experiment launches into space

    By synthesizing carbon-absorbing aerogels in microgravity, SRI research will give us a rare glimpse into how these materials could be radically improved.