Announcing The 1991 Fellowship 

In 1991, a small group of technocrats and policymakers transformed India. Facing a balance-of-payments crisis, they dismantled the License Raj, opened the economy, and set in motion changes that would lift hundreds of millions out of poverty over the following decades.

That work isn't finished. In India, entrepreneurism and abundance are still punished, not by ideology, but by outdated regulation.

Today, India's most pressing policy challenges aren't playing out in New Delhi. They're in state legislatures, district offices, and local courts—where land-use conversion laws impede industrialization, energy-pricing schemes cause shortages and outages, and licensing barriers strangle small businesses before they can begin.

Solving these problems requires a specific kind of person: someone who can generate ideas for reform, can understand the mechanics of implementation, and has the tenacity to see the effort through. These people exist. They're working as policy analysts in Gauhati, lawyers in Chennai, and researchers in Hyderabad. But they're often isolated, under-resourced, and disconnected from the networks that could amplify their work.

That's why we're launching the 1991 Fellowship.

What the fellowship offers

Following the spirit of Emergent Ventures, the 1991 Fellowship identifies high-agency individuals early in their careers and backs their ambitious work to expand human flourishing across India's states.

Over three years, fellows will receive up to $35,000 annually in funding, structured mentorship from leading policy thinkers, and facilitated introductions to bureaucrats, journalists, and think tanks who can help turn good ideas into real reform. See the FAQ on the fellowship page for more detail. 

We're looking for early-career thinkers and professionals—students, policy analysts, lawyers, economists, researchers—who will work full-time on concrete, state-level policy problems and solutions.

Why now

The liberalizers of 1991 understood something important: Ideas matter, but so does execution. They knew how to navigate India's institutions, build coalitions, and move policy from paper to practice.

We need more people like that today—not those who merely analyze what's wrong, but those who can actually fix it, who understand both the intellectual case for reform and the political realities of getting it done.

How to get involved

Applications are open now. If you have actionable ideas for state-level deregulation and are looking for support to advance them, we want to hear from you.

And if you know someone who fits this description, please share this opportunity with them.

The reformers of 1991 showed what was possible. This fellowship is how we find the people who will carry that work forward.

Learn more and apply: https://www.mercatus.org/1991-fellowship