New Delhi: Gurcharan Das, the renowned Indian author, commentator, and prominent liberal thinker, has been awarded the Lifetime Libertarian Award, making him the first Indian to receive the honour that was introduced in 2024. The prestigious global honour is awarded by US-based non-profit Liberty International, recognising individuals whose ideas and leadership have significantly advanced the cause of liberty worldwide.
The recognition highlights Das’ enduring contribution to public discourse on India’s economic evolution and the ideas that have shaped the country’s growth story over the past three decades.
Reacting to the recognition, Das said, “I feel honoured. Imagine, to be rewarded for what you believe in your bones — what a stroke of luck!”
Das, 82, will be presented with the honour at the 40th Liberty International World Conference, which will be held from 7-9 August 2026 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Besides this, two other awards will be given at the conference — Voice of Liberty Award to Samriddhi Foundation, a Nepal-based policy research organisation, and Freedom Torch Award to former New Zealand finance minister Roger Douglas.
Founded in 1969, Liberty International is dedicated to advancing freedom through education and leadership development across more than 100 countries. While announcing the honour, the organisation cited Das’ “extraordinary contributions to the cause of liberty and his lifelong commitment to the principles of a free society.”
A prominent liberal author
Gurcharan Das has authored about a dozen non-fiction books and essays, with his bestselling books including India Unbound (2000), a book widely described as a “quiet earthquake” for its mix of memoir, economics, and political commentary. It has been translated into many languages and also adapted into a documentary by the BBC.
His other major bestseller, The Difficulty of Being Good (2009), is a philosophical exploration of dharma through the Mahabharata. It has become one of his most influential non‑fiction books.
In India Grows at Night (2012), his best‑selling essay collection, he argues that India’s growth happens despite the state, not because of it. The book was featured on the Financial Times list of best books of 2013.
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From CEO to ‘lonely liberal’
Das has called himself a lonely liberal in the past. Nobody has any use for a liberal libertarian today because they reject both the identity politics of authoritarianism and the redistributive socialist politics. Liberalism is a lonely road, he said. At a 2023 lecture in Delhi, titled The Dilemma of an Indian Liberal, Das said he is a man with “no one to vote for”.
Before turning to writing full time, Das served as CEO of Procter & Gamble India and later as Managing Director for Strategic Planning at Procter & Gamble Worldwide. A graduate of Harvard University, he was later inducted into Phi Beta Kappa for “high attainments in liberal scholarship”. For more than two decades, he has also been associated with the Centre for Civil Society, contributing to work in education reform and livelihoods. He also frequently contributes columns on economy, growth, religion, etc.
In addition to receiving the award, Das will also deliver a keynote address at the conference, addressing an international audience of scholars, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders from more than 40 countries.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)