metro india news  I hyderabad : The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has appointed Suresh Goyal as its 11th Director General, with effect from January 5, 2026. He will succeed economist Poonam Gupta, who headed the country’s oldest economic think tank from July 2021 to April 2025.

Goyal brings with him more than three decades of experience spanning both the public and private sectors. Prior to this appointment, he served as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Highway Infra Trust (NHIT). The trust was established by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the National Highways Authority of India as part of the National Monetisation Pipeline to attract long-term capital into infrastructure development.

Founded in 1956, NCAER is India’s largest and oldest independent economic policy research institution. It was set up as a public-private partnership by then Commerce Minister T T Krishnamachari, with support from industrialist J R D Tata.