Anirudh Burman

About

I am a public-policy researcher currently working in Carnegie India. My research focuses on the political economy of land markets and public institutions in land markets. I also continue to research state capacity and public administration issues from the perspective of them being binding constraints on economic growth. In addition, I have worked extensively on privacy and data regulation in India.

I have an LL.M. from Harvard Law School, and a B.A.LL.B from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences

Prior work

Before joining Carnegie India, I worked at the National Institute for Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi. I have also worked with the Center for Policy Research, and PRS Legislative Research, both based in New Delhi.

At NIPFP, I worked extensively with central government departments and agencies on issues related to land titling reforms, financial reforms and improvements in financial regulatory governance, capacity building and regulatory reform in agriculture. I also taught courses on constitutional law and regulatory governance.

Current Research

My current research interests focus on the political economy of land markets, particularly the regulatory framework affecting land rights and land titles, the relationship between tenure security and land transactions, and public administration issues in land markets in India. Another area of interest is the relationship between land markets and the process of urbanisation and rural transformation occurring in India.

I also work on issues related to the political economy of data regulation in India.

These areas of research further my long-term interest in understanding the regulatory and administrative state in India.

My Publications

Working Papers, Journal Publications, Book Chapters, articles:

  1. “Delays in government contracting: A tale of two metros“, LEAP Blog, December 23, 2022
  2. “Timeliness in government contracting: Evidence from the country’s largest metro-rail network“, LEAP Blog, August 12, 2022
  3. “The Changing Imperatives of India’s Land Markets“, The 1991 Project, Mercatus Center, June 2022.
  4. “India: Testing Out New Policies on Globalization“, Chapter in Rewiring Globalization, Ed. by Sinan Ulgen, February 2022.
  5. “Land Title Insurance in India: Lessons from U.S. Regulatory Approaches“, CEIP Working Paper, AUGUST 14, 2020
  6. Measuring Regulatory Responsiveness in India: A Framework for Empirical Assessment, WILLIAM & MARY POLICY REVIEW, Vol.9, No. 2, 2018
  7. “Understanding the Encryption Debate in India“, CEIP Working Paper, September 13, 2021.
  8. “How Would Data Localization Benefit India?” CEIP Working Paper, April 14, 2021.
  9. “India’s Sustained Economic Recovery Will Require Changes to Its Bankruptcy Law“, CEIP Working Paper, April 5, 2021.
  10. “Intrusive Pandemic-Era Monitoring Is the Same Old Surveillance State, Not a New One“, CEIP Article, MAY 07, 2020
  11. “Will India’s Proposed Data Protection Law Protect Privacy and Promote Growth?“, CEIP Working Paper, MARCH 09, 2020
  12. “The NJAC Judgment and Its Discontents”, in Constitutional and Democratic Institutions in India: A Critical Analysis, Ed. Sudha Pai
  13. “Making Land Titles in India Marketable: Using Title Insurance as a Viable Alternative to Conclusive Titling“, WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL LAW JOURNAL, APRIL 15, 2019
  14. Recovery, Resilience, and Adaptation: India From 2020 to 2030, CEIP Working Paper, September 2020
  15. “Statutory Regulatory Authorities: Evolution and Impact”, K.P. Krishnan and Anirudh Burman, in Regulation in India: Design, Capacity, Performance, Eds. Devesh Kapur, Madhav Khosla (2019)
  16. “Will a GDPR-Style Data Protection Law Work For India?” CEIP Article, May 15, 2019
  17. “Diagnosing and overcoming sustained food price volatility: Enabling a National Market for Food“, Anirudh Burman, Ila Patnaik, Shubho Roy and Ajay Shah, NIPFP WP-236, 24-July-2018
  18. The Challenge of Building State Capacity in the Land Administration in Rajasthan: Creating a Regulatory Administration in Land, Devendra Damle and Anirudh Burman, SSRN, 2020
  19. “Movement and Residence”, Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, Eds. Dr. P.B.Mehta, Mr. M. Khosla, Mr. S. Choudhary, OUP, 2016.
  20. “Legal Framework for the Parliamentary Oversight of the Executive in India”, NUJS Law Review, 6 NUJS L. Rev. 3 (2013). 
  21. “Regulatory responsiveness in India: A normative and empirical framework for assessment”, Working Paper (WP-2016-025) co-authored with Ms. Bhargavi Zaveri, July 2016.
  22. “Building an institution of insolvency practitioners in India” Working Paper (WP-2015-033) co-authored with Mr. Shubho Roy, for the Bankruptcy Law Reforms Commission, December 2015.
  23. “Transparency in Political Parties-Finding the Right Instrument”, Economic and Political Weekly, July 13, 2013.
  24. Building an Institution of Insolvency Practitioners in India, SSRN, 2015

Op-eds and shorter pieces: 

  1. Budget 2023: On cities, a welcome continuity. But reluctance to usher in big reforms is worrying, Indian Express, February 2, 2023.
  2. Demonetisation verdict: Supreme Court provides little clarity or closure, Indian Express, January 3, 2023
  3. Resisting the Leviathan: The Key Change in India’s New Proposal to Protect Personal Data, Carnegie India Commentary, November 28, 2022
  4. New data bill carries one disappointment from previous versions—exempting govt agencies, The Print, 25 November, 2022
  5. US-China tech rivalry will have spillover effects. India must hedge itself, The Print, October 19, 2022
  6. The Withdrawal of the Proposed Data Protection Law Is a Pragmatic Move, Carnegie India Commentary, August 22, 2022
  7. India’s New Crypto Proposals Should Worry Virtual Currency Fans, Carnegie India Commentary, February 10, 2022
  8. There’s an expansion of state power in the domain of privacy, Indian Express, December 18, 2021
  9. Regulations Proposed by Draft Report on Non-Personal Data Need a Relook, Indian Express, JULY 30, 2020
  10. Banking to groceries — Data Protection Authority has multi-sector role, but must be efficient, Print, December 6, 2020
  11. How COVID-19 is Changing Indian Federalism, East Asia Forum, July 28, 2020
  12. Don’t Discriminate Against Non-Resident Migrants, Hindustan Times, June 22, 2020
  13. Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, Must be Rationalised to Remove Requirements that Disincentivise Formalisation, Indian Express, May 9, 2020
  14. Surveillance Power, Diluting Privacy: Why Modi Govt’s Data Bill Needs Urgent Modification, Print, March 9, 2020
  15. The Draft Personal Data Protection Bill is Flawed, Hindustan Times, December 16, 2019
  16. Lost in the Data Localization Debate: Does India Have Full Power to Exploit Its Own Data?, Print, October 25, 2019
  17. India, the Biggest Open Data Market, Has a Chance to Lead the World on Data Arbitration, July 22, 2019
  18. India Has to Attack Causes of Land Litigation. Modi’s Ease of Doing Business Depends on It, July 1, 2019
  19. How Responsive Are India’s Regulators?, Quint, April 19, 2019
  20. SC Only Quashed RBI Circular on Bad Loans, the Insolvency Law Still Hangs on Private Firms, Print, April 5, 2019
  21. Land Reform a Game-Changer that Narendra Modi Government has Overlooked, Print, January 6, 2019
  22. “Ordinance Route”, Frontline, August9, 2013.
  23. “Notion of Justice”, Frontline, January 10, 2014.
  24. “The Narrative of independent regulators”, Bar and Bench, July 2013.
  25. “The Narrative of judicial appointments”, Bar and Bench, July 2013.
  26. “Dams and Disasters in the Himalayas”, Mint, July 9, 2013.

My Carnegie India page: Here

My SSRN page: Here

My pieces on the Carnegie Newsletter “Ideas and Institutions”: Here

My posts on the LEAP Journal blog: Here

Talks/ Lectures/ Discussions:

  1. Understanding Urbanization in India, March 1, 2023
  2. Informal Labor Markets in South Asia, November 14, 2022
  3. Roundtable on Jan Vishwas Bill, March 23, 2023
  4. Lecture on Regulatory Impact Assessments at Forum of Indian Regulators, April 14, 2023
  5. Closed-door discussions on DPGs at the Global Digital Compact, March 20, 2023
  6. Discussant, Panel on consumer protection regulation, February 11, 2023
  7. Discussant, Seminar on Land titling for slums in Odisha organised by Centre for Policy Research, September 13, 2022.
  8. Briefing for Swiss government ambassadorial delegation on India’s digitalisation, October 26, 2022
  9. Moderator, Panel discussion on data localization, Global Technology Summit, November 2022
  10. Moderator, Closed-door discussion on privacy and data protection, Global Technology Summit, November 2022
  11. “Future of Encryption“, December 16, 2021
  12. “The Technology Law Podcast Episode 3: India’s Proposed Data Protection Bill” September 9, 2021
  13. “Building an Effective Data Protection Authority in India“, June 24, 2021
  14. “Understanding India’s Contentious New Farm Laws“, February 19, 2021
  15. “Future of Personal and Non personal Data” February 24, 2021
  16. “Recovery and Resilience: A workshop on India’s Bankruptcy Resolution Framework“
  17. “The Way Ahead: Land Title Insurance in India“, September 18, 2020
  18. “Labor Regulation and Economic Growth in India“, June 19, 2020
  19. “Data Protection in India with Anirudh Burman“, April 2, 2020
  20. “Data privacy and Pandemics“, May 6, 2020
  21. “Data Protection, Privacy & Disease Surveillance While Fighting COVID-19“, April 29, 2020
  22. “Carnegie Insights: Coronavirus and State Surveillance“, April 13, 2020
  23. “Data Protection in India with Anirudh Burman“, April 2, 2020
  24. “Decoding information utilities under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill” December 31, 2015
  25. “Enabling a competitive, national market for food“, May 13, 2014

Other positions held:

  1. Member, Subject Expert Committee for IICA project “Development of Performance Evaluation Mechanism For Regulatory Bodies in India (January 2021)