Vijay Mahajan graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi and the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad. In 1983, he founded Pradan, an NGO engaged in promoting livelihoods for the rural poor. In 1996, he founded the Basix Group. He is Chair of the Board for the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, a global microfinance body and a member of several committees for the Government of India. Vijay co-authored The Forgotten Sector, a book on the rural non-farm sector in India. He was written over 100 articles on rural development and microfinance.