Arvind Panagariya, an academic on leave from Columbia University, yesterday resigned as the Niti Aayog  vice chairman, a sudden development that set off speculation about his successor.
Panagariya, appointed vice chairman of the restructured think tank in January 2015, said that he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, informing him that his leave was due to expire this month-end and it was not possible to extend it.
In his resignation letter, Panagariya also said that he wants to resume his teaching job at Columbia University where he was professor of Indian political economy.
The 64-year-old supply-side economist took over the post immediately after the erstwhile Planning Commission, a Nehruvian era institution, was restructured and the new body was created.
Panagariya was the sherpa for the prime minister at the recently-concluded G20 meeting in Germany and he had always been a supporter of the Modi government, vocally backing its various reform measures, including the demonetisation.
There was no official comment by way of reaction but the development has come in the midst of speculation that there could be a reshuffle in the Niti Aayog where Bibek Debroy, who also is a staunch supporter of Modi and his economics, could be the likely successor.
Another name doing the rounds is that of Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, who may be shifted to the Niti Aayog.
There have also been murmurs of dissatisfaction in the top government circles about the performance of the Niti Aayog under the leadership of Panagariya, sources said.
Before Niti Aayog, Panagariya served as the chief economist of the Asian Development Bank and has also worked with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in various capacities.
The Indian-American, who joined as the first vice chairman of Niti Aayog, is the second high-profile academic-economist to quit after Raghuram Rajan who resigned as Reserve Bank of India governor to return to the teaching profession in the US.
Panagariya did not have a fixed term at the government think tank.
Going by convention, the term was to be co-terminus with that of the prime minister, who is the chairperson of the body.
Talking to reporters, Panagariya said the university was not giving him further extension and he would be leaving Niti Aayog on August 31.
He said that about two months ago he had expressed his desire to Modi to be relieved by August 31.
Panagariya said he had to make a choice as it would not be possible for him to get the job he had been doing at Columbia University.
At US universities one can teach as long as one’s health permits.
“If I were at 40, then I would have got a job anywhere... the kind of job I have at Columbia is almost impossible to get at this age,” he said.