Rakesh Basant is professor of economics and JSW Professor of Innovation and Public Policy at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. His teaching and research have focused on public policy and regulation, firm strategy, innovation, intellectual property rights and entrepreneurial business models. He is well published in the areas of competition policy, technology strategy, industrial clusters, innovation-internationalization linkages, incubation models in higher education and industry-academia partnerships. He was a member of the Sachar Committee that wrote a report on the social, economic and educational conditions of Muslims in India. In continuation of this work, part of his current research focuses on affirmative action and other issues related to caste and religion in India. He has taught at universities abroad and worked as a consultant to several international organizations.