After receiving a doctorate from Harvard, Virmani moved to New York University for a teaching assignment. He returned to India around the end of Indira Gandhi’s Emergency rule in 1977. He had two job offers. One, he was shortlisted for Reader at the Delhi School of Economics and the other a job with the World Bank. After consulting with Ashok Lahiri, who was second on the panel of shortlisted candidates for the Reader job at DSE, Virmani opted for the latter. After spending nearly 10 years as Senior Economist at World Bank, Virmani returned to India in 1987. He served the government from 1987 in senior positions in the finance ministry and the Planning Commission for over two decades. He worked on various economic policy papers during the 1990s that led to various reforms. He has been an advisor to the Indian Government at the highest levels, including as Principal Advisor, at the Planning Commission and Chief Economic Advisor at, the Ministry of Finance.[1] During his period as the Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, Virmani wrote the Economic Survey of India (2008-2009). In 2009, he was appointed as India's representative in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a position often considered to be a reward for bureaucrats coming close to retirement and that has three years of office. He served as a member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the RBI on Monetary Policy from February 2013 to August 2016.[3][4][5][6][7]
He is the founder of EGROW Foundation, a non-profit, multi-disciplinary public policy organisation engaged in independent, high-quality research in the areas of macroeconomic policy, public welfare, national security and diplomacy.[8][7]
He was appointed a full-time member of NITI Aayog in November 2022[9]
Publications
He has published several articles in the areas of Macroeconomics growth and finance, International trade & Tariffs and International relations.[7]From Uni-polar To Tri polar World: Multi-polar Transition Paradox,[10]Propelling India From Socialist Stagnation To Global Power.[11]
^Your name here (2006). Propelling India from Socialist Stagnation to Global Power: Volume 1: Growth Process (1): Virmani, Arvind: 9788171885305: Amazon.com: Books. ISBN8171885306.