India is proud of Abhijit's accomplishments: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that India is proud of the accomplishments of Dr Abhijit Banerjee, the winner of the 2019 Economics Nobel.

PM Modi said in a tweet and also shared a photo of the meeting held in Modi's residence in New Delhi on Tuesday, reports CNBCTV18.

"Excellent meeting with Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee. His passion towards human empowerment is clearly visible. We had a healthy and extensive interaction on various subjects. India is proud of his accomplishments. Wishing him the very best for his future endeavours," Modi said.

The economist won the award this year jointly with his second wife Esther Duflo — a French-American economist — and fellow US professor Michael Kremer.

Announcing the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the research conducted by Banerjee, Duflo and Kremer has considerably improved the ability to fight global poverty.

Born in Mumbai in 1961, Banerjee is one of the world's leading development economists and is presently working as a Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Mumbai-born Banerjee received his BSc from University of Calcutta in 1981, his MA from JNU in 1983 and his PhD from Harvard in 1988.

The first person of Indian-Origin to win the Nobel Prize of Economics is Amartya Sen and Banerjee follows in his footsteps by researching poverty-related topics like him.

Banerjee is the tenth person of Indian origin or citizenship to win a Nobel prize.