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On Think Tanks was founded in mid 2010. It has evolved from a blog into a global platform dedicated to study and support policy research and policy research centres, or think tanks. The members of the On Think Tanks Team and its Advisory Board are spread out across 6 continents!

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series

Indian think tanks: a view on their journey

This series is curated by Annapoorna Ravichander, On Think Tanks’ editor at large for South Asia, and is based on preliminary research, media reports, personal interviews and informal discussion with colleagues in the think tank field. If you want to add to this conversation with your research, opinion or material, please contact us at [email protected]
  1. 1

    Indian think tanks: a view on their journey

    The Indian think tank ecosystem is nearly a century old. Its growth and evolution as a sector designed to help government address public policy is representative of India’s emergence as one of the largest democracies in the world. In the politico-socio scenario, these organisations emerged to... Read full article
  2. 2

    Indian think tanks: a historical background

    The rise of think tanks in India began in the 1930s. This section has been divided into different time periods in an effort to understand the history of the think tank sector and the challenges they might face going forward. 1930s to early 1950s The establishment of think tanks can be traced... Read full article
  3. 3

    Indian think tanks: Research topics

    The political scene over the last decade, along with shifts in the administrative cycles of the government and changes in the policymaking process, have led think tanks to focus on a range of issues. Some think tanks have kept a great degree of operative independence despite the fact they are... Read full article
  4. 4

    Indian think tanks: their affiliations and classifications

    Although most think tanks in India claim to be non-partisan, many are working as national foundations or trusts in the name of national leaders, ostensibly to consolidate their legacy and to promote their vision of India through research or by promoting scholarships for higher... Read full article
  5. 5

    Indian think tanks: the challenges they face

    Due to the nature of their work and the fact that their main client is the government, Indian think tanks face several challenges to continue their work and to ensure they continue to engage with policymakers. In the article Why think tanks struggle in India (2013), Goyal and Srinivasan... Read full article
  6. 6

    Indian think tanks: a conclusion to the series

    Based on what we discussed in the previous posts of this series, we can conclude that Indian think tanks are still evolving. Looking at their history, we see that they have grown and expanded out of political need or due to factors that contribute to the socio-political history of India. While... Read full article