Shri Jayant Sinha is Chairperson of the Standing Committee for Finance and the BJP Lok Sabha MP from Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. He first won his seat by 159,000 votes in May 2014 and was reelected by over 478,000 votes in May 2019. His 2019 vote share was 67.4%, among the highest in India’s recent parliamentary elections. Mr. Sinha represents a constituency of approximately 2.5 million people spanning remote rural areas, fast-growing cities, as well as some of India’s largest coal mines and power plants. As an MP, Mr. Sinha has ushered in many notable innovations including a district-wide scorecard-based monitoring system, centralized mid-day meals for primary schools, and humane land acquisition policies.

Mr. Sinha served on India’s Council of Ministers from 2014 to 2019; first, as the Minister of State for Finance and then as the Minister of State for Civil Aviation. As a Minister, Mr. Sinha formulated and implemented many landmark initiatives. At the Ministry of Finance from 2014 to 2016, he: (1) helped prepare and then pass India’s game-changing Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code; (2) led the efforts to recapitalize and consolidate India’s public sector banks; and (3) assisted in the establishment of important new financing institutions such as the National Infrastructure Investment Fund, the Higher Education Financing Agency, the India Aspiration Fund, and the Long Term Irrigation Fund.

At the Ministry of Civil Aviation from 2016 to 2019, Mr. Sinha: (1) implemented the highly successful Regional Connectivity Scheme (UDAN), which increased the number of operational airports from 70 to over 100 now; (2) formulated India’s drone policies; (3) managed the capacity and safety upgrade of India’s entire aviation system while air traffic more than doubled; (4) helped drive the strategic disinvestment process for Air India, Pawan Hans, and 6 major airports; (5) developed a world-leading national digital traveler system (DigiYatra) and grievance handling app (AirSewa); (6) implemented an innovative passenger fee-based bidding framework for airports; and (7) established a unified security architecture for all of India’s airports and helipads.

Prior to his career in public service, Mr. Sinha was Partner at Omidyar Network (ON) and the Managing Director of Omidyar Network India Advisors, where he led overall investment strategy and operations in India. He also served on Omidyar Network’s five member global Executive Committee. ON, founded by Pierre Omidyar (Founder and Chairperson, eBay), is one of the world’s leading impact investment firms with over $1 billion in deployed capital.

Before joining Omidyar Network, Mr. Sinha was Managing Director at Courage Capital Management, where he led Global Technology and India-related investing for a billion dollar global special situations hedge fund. Mr. Sinha joined Courage Capital in 2006 after twelve years with McKinsey & Company, where he was a Partner in the Boston and Delhi offices. At McKinsey, Mr. Sinha co-led the global Software & IT Services Practice. Mr. Sinha is a widely known expert on the Tech and Venture Capital sectors. He is often quoted in the global media including The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, The New York Times, CNN, Bloomberg, and CNBC. His essays and articles have been published in the Harvard Business Review, McKinsey Quarterly, Financial Times, Times of India, Indian Express, and the Economic Times.

Mr. Sinha has an MBA with Distinction from the Harvard Business School, an MS in Energy Management & Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Technology with Distinction from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He was awarded the Distinguished Alumni award from IIT Delhi in 2015.