About Us - Think Forum

Who We Are?

Think Change Forum (TCF) is an independent think tank committed to addressing the challenges of a rapidly evolving global landscape. Founded in response to the disruptive COVID-19 pandemic, TCF brings together diverse expertise to generate forward-thinking ideas and develop actionable solutions that drive progress.

Through in-depth research, data-driven insights, and collaborative dialogue, we work towards creating sustainable, inclusive growth across key social, economic, and environmental domains. Our guiding principles - non-partisanship, innovation, and a commitment to evidence-based thinking - enable us to contribute meaningfully to a better future for India and the world.

Meet our Expert Team

Ranganath Tannir

Secretary General

Ranganath is a Post Graduate in social sciences from JNU, New Delhi. He started his career with HCL in 1980.

Ranganath Tannir

Ranganath is a Post Graduate in social sciences from JNU, New Delhi. He started his career with HCL in 1980. As a young sales trainee, he quickly learnt the key points of professional selling which helped him grow at a remarkable pace in the office automation industry. By the late 80’s he was moved to corporate marketing where he was a key member of the team which launched a new product line in his capacity as a senior product manager. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug he co-founded the ‘Next Generation’ group of IT companies in 1993. While he went on to become the MD of Crescent Software Solutions (a company that introduced, sold & supported innovative leading-edge products in RDBMS/ technologies, built off the shelf software products and implemented MRP 2 solutions), he helped in structuring and positioning more companies of the group amidst a growing, competitive IT training and hardware products market.

After a stint in the US from 1999 to 2000 (y2k period) during which time he forged associations between the group and two leading IT firms in America, he came back to India to follow them through. Being the head of the organization, his learning covered most aspects of management. However, his key interest and focus centred on Business Development, Employee Empowerment and Conflict Resolution. He strongly believes that the key issues that enable success for any organization are defined by how well the human asset is synchronized with management objectives and operational prudence. While sales and marketing remained at the core of his competence, Ranganath decided to move into the consulting space in 2002. His experience, competence & Skill in Sales, Marketing, HR and OD have been sought across industry verticals. He has provided training, consulting and advisory services to companies in the Education, Power, Print Media, IT, HR, Healthcare, Internet & Digital media and Marketing Communication sectors. In the period between 2010 and 2012, he worked with Manipal Education as the head of North & East. He helped in consolidating U21 Global’s (An online University based out of Singapore, which Manipal had bought majority shares in) position and initiated and facilitated a tie-up between Punjab National Bank and MU to set up an exclusive training school for PNB probationers. He is currently on an assignment to help a large optometry company in increasing its market access in India.

Ranganath lives in New Delhi with his wife (a Professor of US Studies & International Relations at JNU) and his two daughters, who are pursuing Doctoral degrees in Science and International Relations.

Dr. Sanjaya Baru

Advisor

Dr. Sanjaya Baru, is a well-known and widely respected former Indian journalist, author, policy analyst...

Dr. Sanjaya Baru

Dr. Sanjaya Baru, is a well-known and widely respected former Indian journalist, author, policy analyst and political commentator. Dr. Baru’s well-known book, ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ published in 2014, documents his recollections during his tenure as Media Adviser to the then PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh. Dr. Sanjaya Baru is currently a Distinguished Fellow at Institute for Defence Studies & Analysis, New Delhi. He holds a PhD in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

An extremely erudite and soft-spoken individual, Dr. Baru has a distinguished and storied career with substantive and indelible contributions to all organizations where he worked. He was Director for Geo-economics and Strategy, International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), London and Honorary Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. He was Media Advisor and Principal Speechwriter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2004-08. He has been Chief Editor, Business Standard and The Financial Express; Editorial Page Editor, The Times of India, and Associate Editor, The Economic Times.

Dr. Sanjaya Baru was born in Hyderabad, India and studied there at St. George’s Grammar School and later at The Hyderabad Public School. He completed his master’s degree in economics from JNU. He began his career as a teacher and for 10 years taught economics at ivy league institutions such as University of Hyderabad, ICRIER, Delhi, and Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore.

Dr. Baru has served as director on the boards of companies such as Wockhardt and Artemis Life Sciences. He has also been a consultant with UNDP and ADB. An insightful writer, his publications include Strategic Consequences of India’s Economic Performance (Routledge, 2006), The Political Economy of Indian Sugar (Oxford University Press, 1990); India and the World: Essays on Geo-economics and Foreign Policy (2016). He has recently edited Beyond Covid’s Shadow: Mapping India’s Economic Resurgence (Rupa, 2021).

Manoj Pant

Advisor

Manoj Pant is an Indian expert in International Trade. He is the Director of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.

Manoj Pant

Manoj Pant is an Indian expert in International Trade. He is the Director of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. Previously, he has been a Professor of Economics and Dean, School of International Studies in JNU, where he taught international trade theory. He has also taught economics at Delhi University. Manoj Pant has also been the Economic Advisor and Consultant to the Govt. of Nagaland since about 2002. He used to be a regular newspaper contributor writing for The Economic Times on trade, investment and competition issues. His fields of interest are International Trade Theory, Foreign Investment, Competition Policy and the WTO.

He has obtained his undergraduate degrees from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and his master’s degree from Delhi School of Economics. He has done his Ph.D at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, USA. He has written 40 publications in national and international refereed journals and four books.

Amitabh Mattoo

Advisor

Amitabh Mattoo is currently professor of Disarmament studies at the Centre for International Politics...

Amitabh Mattoo

Amitabh Mattoo is currently professor of Disarmament studies at the Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament (CIPOD), School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. His teaching and research interests include issues of international security, India’s foreign policy, and arms control and disarmament. Mattoo has been visiting Professor at  the Centre for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University,  at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace Studies , the University of Notre Dame, and at the Program on Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and  at the Maison des Sciences de‘Lomme at Paris. He has published ten books (on nuclear issues, foreign policy and international relations), and more than fifty research articles (including in leading journals like Survival and Asian Survey). He writes regularly for Indian newspapers, including The Telegraph and The Hindu and is a commentator on television.

Dr. Ila Patnaik

Advisor

Ila Patnaik is a Professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP)...

Dr. Ila Patnaik

Ila Patnaik is a Professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP). Prior to this, she was the Principal Economic Advisor to the Government of India from May 2014 to December 2015. She has also worked at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), and as economics editor at the Indian Express. Her main area of interest is open economy macroeconomics, including issues related to capital flows, the exchange rate regime, monetary policy, business cycles, and the financial sector in the context of opening of the capital account. Her recent papers deal with India’s experience with capital flows, methods for testing, dating and monitoring structural change of the exchange rate regime, an examination of the exchange rate regime in India and China, questions of moral hazard in the currency exposure of firms, and explaining the change in home bias against Indian firms.