Dr. Abhijit Sharma is a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from School of Planning, CEPT, Ahmedabad and a Ph.D from Gauhati University. His area of work covers financial systems, livelihoods, entrepreneurship, microfinance, financial Inclusion, microenterprise development and urban development issues. He has a varied work experience starting his career as Asst Director, Town and Country Planning in the State Govt and then moved on to be a Lecturer in Gauhati University. He joined IIBM in 1995. He is currently working as a Professor. He was on deputation as the Director, Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship), Govt of India from May’2018 to Oct’2021.

At IIBM, he was heading the Centre for Microfinance Research, Northeast region Centre (sponsored by NABARD), which undertook several policy levels studies on microfinance, financial inclusion and livelihood. He setup the Chief Minister’s Microfinance scheme in Assam right from designing to its implementation. He has represented NER as the member of the working group set up by the Planning Commission on National Rural Livelihood Mission. He has been associated with several studies and consultancies on microfinance and livelihood in the North East with the Microsave, CESS and Livelihood School, Hyderabad and Tufts University, Boston, USA etc. Has several articles, publications in journals and books both nationally and internationally in the areas mentioned above.