The Economics Area carries out rigorous empirical and theoretical research on a wide variety of issues. The area members’ research interests include Agricultural and Indian Economic Policy, Applied Econometrics, Applied Economics, Development Economics, Economics of Information, Economics of Institutions, Economics of Money, Credit and Banking, Energy Economics, Environmental Governance and Management, Financial Markets, International Trade, Labour Economics, Macroeconomics, Public Finance. The area members have published their work in many reputed international journals like Conservation Letters, Economic and Political Weekly, Economics Letters, Economic Modelling, Financial System Review, International Review of Economics and Finance, International VAT Monitor, Journal of Asia Business Studies, Journal of Economic Integration, Journal of Policy Modeling, Landscape and Urban Planning, Physica A. The area members research projects have received funding from leading agencies such as NABARD, NITI Aayog, Ministry of Commerce & Industry (Government of India), Economic and Social Research Council (UK).

The area has expertise in doctoral supervision in the above mentioned areas and welcomes candidates with research interest in these and allied areas. Candidates who successfully complete the fellow program in management with specialisation in economics can look forward to rewarding careers in academia, industry and policy institutions.

The area offers a number of courses in all programs of the Institute. In the Post Graduate Program, there are four compulsory courses offered by the area: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Environmental Management, and Indian Economy. There are also a number of elective courses offered by this area, such as Business and Government, Econometrics for Business, Game Theory, Pricing and Public Policy Analysis. In the Executive Post Graduate Programs, the area contributes three compulsory courses: Managerial Economics, Economic Environment, and Environmental Governance and Sustainability.