“In Suresh’s demise, our country has lost one of its most eminent economists. His work on poverty was path breaking and will continue to guide and inspire the coming generations of economists,”
– Dr. Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister
“Even as a student, he had a sharp empirical sense. As a teacher too his courses were data intensive,”
– K.L. Krishna, Chairman of Center for Economic and Social Studies.
“I used to call him the ‘Frontier Function’ (a term in economic literature that often charts the maximum attainable value) since he was a role model in all aspects of life,”
– T.A. Bhavani, Professor of Economics at the Institute of Economic Growth
“He was in a league of his own. Even at this late stage of his career, he used to personally work on the data, unlike many who simply pontificate on issues without doing any real research,”
– Himanshu, Assistant Professor , Centre for the Study of Regional Development School of Social Sciences, JNU.
“He told us that while we use data to interpret the world around us, the data itself needs interpretation,”
– Abhijit Sen, a member of India’s Planning Commission, while summarizing Tendulkar’s contribution.
“He was one of the best economists in India who firmly believed in the liberalisation policies and was against the controlled regime.”
– C Rangarajan, PMEAC Chairman
“He was an outstanding teacher and very logical. He would teach even subjective topics in an organized manner, step by step.”
-India’s chief statistician, TCA Anant, who was Tendulkar’s student at the Delhi School of Economics from 1978 to 1980
“Prof. Suresh Tendulkar was, by all accounts, one of the pre-eminent economists of India who was deeply respected both in the academia and the public policy space. His scholarship straddled a wide range of sub-disciplines in economics but his seminal work on the measurement and analysis of living standards in India, with focus on inequality and poverty, will remain his enduring legacy to public policy formulation.”
-Dr Duvvuri Subbarao, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
“The Late Professor Suresh Tendulkar was an outstanding scholar who contributed extensively to the literature on poverty and development in India. His work continues to have deep significance both for theoretical and policy purposes. Apart from being an outstanding academic, he was actively involved not only in influencing but also shaping official Indian thinking on several important issues such as agricultural pricing, inequality, poverty measures, etc. I had the good fortune to know him personally for several years and miss his guidance and friendship due to his unfortunate and untimely death.”
– Dr. Nachne, Professor Emeritus (IGIDR).
I had the privilege of being associated with Prof. Suresh Tendulkar in many phases of my professional life. He taught me development economics in the Delhi School  of Economics. He reviewed my work during my time at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research. He recommended me for the Fulbright fellowship. We regularly interacted when he was in the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. And, he was a member of the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India for the first year and a half of my term there, at which point he passed away. Throughout this long engagement, I observed and was inspired by his rare combination of analytical rigour and meticulousness, sensitivity to the fundamental objectives of economic policy and extreme humility. I was honored to have been invited to deliver the first lecture in his memory instituted by SSE. That was a great way for me to pay my tribute to a great economist, with whom I had a fulfilling professional and personal relationship.

– Dr. Subir Gokarn, Executive Director, IMF