Economics as the basic discipline and a Ph. D in the subject, with an academic course from the University of Birmingham in Local Government Finance, Prof. Gangadhar Jha has worked at reputed organisations from 1967 to 2002 such as the Town and Country Planning Organisation, Government of India, the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, and the National Institute of Urban Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi before turning to development consultancy in 2002.
He has also worked as Economic Advisor to one of the State Finance Commissions and has been a Member of two Property Tax Reform Committees constituted by the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. He has to his credit more than forty years of working experience of urban sector. His areas of specialization include urban sector Public Policy, Governance, Urban Public Finance, Organisation Development, Institution Development and Strengthening, Institutional Capacity Development and Training.
He has to his credit experience of working in a number of developing countries such as Indonesia, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and in the states of M.P., Bihar, Rajasthan, Karnataka, West Bengal, Odisha and Kerala mostly on the subjects mentioned above and on the projects supported by international development agencies such as World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United States Aid for International Development (USAID), Department for International Development (DFID) the Government of U.K. and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).
He has participated in a number of seminars and conferences in India and abroad and has contributed papers. He has authored three books, edited another and has more than 100 published papers in reputed journals in India and abroad. He has also contributed papers in more than a dozen edited books as Chapters. He is a renowned and reputed urban sector Development Specialist.