In 1991, a small group of technocrats 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. That work isn’t finished.
India’s most pressing policy problems today aren’t playing out in New Delhi. They’re in state legislatures, district offices, and local courts. Land use conversion laws impede industrialization. Energy pricing schemes cause shortages. Building codes shackle urbanization. Licensing barriers strangle small businesses before they can begin. Entrepreneurship and abundance are still punished, not by ideology, but by outdated regulation.
Solving these problems requires a specific kind of person. Someone who can generate ideas for reform, understand the mechanics of implementation, and has the tenacity to see the effort through. These people exist. They’re working as policy analysts in Guwahati, lawyers in Chennai, 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.
Following the spirit of Emergent Ventures, this fellowship identifies high-agency individuals early in their careers and backs their work on state-level reform. Fellows choose their own state and policy area. They develop signature projects with real potential for traction.
We’re interested in projects that advance real reforms: simplifying labor laws, streamlining property rights and land use, reforming building bylaws and environmental policy, reducing licensing barriers, improving urban planning. The more specific the proposal, the better. We’re open to structurally ambitious ideas, not just incremental fixes, but applicants should demonstrate a credible path toward traction over the three-year fellowship. We’re less interested in pure analysis or advocacy that floats free of implementation. Show us you understand how change actually happens in your chosen state.
How the Fellowship Works
The fellowship runs for three years. The fellowship requires a full-time commitment across all three years. Fellows should not take on separate employment during this period. Fellows work on their chosen policy area, conducting research, writing policy briefs and public-facing pieces, building relationships with state-level officials and civil society, advocating their ideas, and piloting reforms where possible. The work is largely self-directed, though structured around quarterly milestones. Fellows should expect to spend significant time in their chosen state, meeting with bureaucrats, attending legislative sessions, and understanding ground-level implementation challenges.
In the first year, we will choose a maximum of ten fellows. Fellows will receive a stipend of up to $25,000 and participate in structured programming in public policy, writing, and communication. They attend monthly workshops and present their progress quarterly.
In the second year, the cohort narrows to up to seven fellows based on intellectual rigor and project impact. Continuing fellows receive up to $30,000 along with individualized mentorship and exposure through India-based workshops.
At this stage, fellows may attach themselves to think tanks, government bodies, or advocacy institutions of their choice that align with their policy work. These placements function as apprenticeships or incubation spaces where fellows can deepen their learning and maximize their impact.
In the third year, funding increases to up to $35,000. Fellows continue piloting reforms, working with governments, and launching advocacy platforms. The program concludes with a policy showcase and network building to support continued impact.
In Years 2 and 3, institutional affiliations that serve the fellowship work are encouraged, but the fellowship remains the primary obligation, and fellows remain accountable to it.
The stipend is intended as living support, allowing fellows to work full-time on their projects. It increases in the second and third year to provide flexibility for the travel and other project related expenses encountered by the fellows. Mercatus covers all programming, workshops, and conferences it requires fellows to attend. Fellows are expected to relocate to or near the state they are working on; reasonable relocation and travel expenses related to fellowship work can be discussed.
Throughout, fellows receive facilitated introductions to bureaucrats, journalists, and think tanks who can turn good ideas into real change.
Who Should Apply
This fellowship is for people whose goal is to work full-time on state-level policy but who lack the experience, networks, or institutional home to do so. Perhaps you have ideas but no platform. Perhaps you’ve been working adjacent to policy but haven’t found a space that will incubate your work while paying you to learn and deepen your networks. This fellowship provides that: funding, training, and the networks and flexibility to build a career in liberal economic reform.
We’re looking for people with high agency and a demonstrated commitment to classical liberal economic policy. This fellowship is for early-career professionals: policy analysts, lawyers, economists, researchers, students. We value demonstrated initiative over formal credentials. College dropouts, self-taught policy professionals, and those with unconventional paths are welcome. We define early career broadly. You might be finishing a degree, a few years into your first policy role, or shifting focus mid-career. What matters is capacity to execute ambitious work and a long-term commitment to state-level policy.
This fellowship is driven by the fellow. You come with your ideas. You decide what you work on. You decide which institutions to partner with. You decide where to go after the fellowship ends. Mercatus will not micromanage your path. That means this fellowship is best suited for individuals with high ambition, high agency, strong implementation skills, hustle, problem-solving ability, and the self-direction to chart their own course.
The fellowship is based in India. Ideally, fellows will be based in the state they are working on.
The application includes short questions about policy problems you find underappreciated, how you’d move reform forward, and your own journey. Applicants must include a writing sample in English or any major Indian language.
What Happens After
Most fellows continue working in policy at the state level, either within institutions or as independent experts. You’ll join a network of reformers and maintain connections with Mercatus and other fellows. Mercatus does not offer job placement; fellows chart their own paths forward.
Timeline
Applications opened January 15, 2026, and close February 28, 2026. Selections are finalized by early summer. The fellowship launches in July 2026.
The liberalizers of 1991 understood something important. Ideas matter, but so does execution. They knew how to navigate 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.
If you have actionable ideas for state-level deregulation and are looking for support to advance them, we want to hear from you. If you know someone who fits this description, please share this with them.
Questions? Email indiaprogram@mercatus.gmu.edu
Super Initiative, Sruti