Abhijit Banerjee, born in 1961 in India, studied at the University of Calcutta (File)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Indian-American economist Abhijit Banerjee for winning the Economics Nobel prize for his contribution in the alleviation of global poverty.

"Congratulations to Abhijit Banerjee on being conferred the 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. He has made notable contributions in the field of poverty alleviation," PM Modi tweeted.

Congratulations to Abhijit Banerjee on being conferred the 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. He has made notable contributions in the field of poverty alleviation. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 14, 2019

Mr Banerjee, born in 1961 in India, studied at the University of Calcutta and the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. He got his PhD in 1988 from Harvard University.

Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer will share the Economics Nobel prize with Mr Banerjee for their "experimental approach to alleviating global poverty", the Swedish academy announced on Monday.

Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo are married.

In two decades, their new experiment-based approach has transformed development economics, which is now a flourishing field of research, the academy said in the release.

PM Modi also congratulated the co-recipients of the honour.

I also congratulate Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer for wining the prestigious Nobel. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 14, 2019

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a JNU alumnus, also congratulated Mr Banerjee on Twitter.

"Congratulations Abhijit Banerjee on being awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize for your contribution for easing poverty. #JNU also wishing Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer," she said.

Congratulations #AbhijitBanerjee on being awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize for your contribution for easing poverty. #JNU Also wishing Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer. #NobelPrize2019 — Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) October 14, 2019

Mr Banerjee, 58, and Ms Duflo, 46, are both professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, while Mr Kremer, 54, is a professor at Harvard University.

Ms Duflo, who is also the youngest person to ever receive the Economics Prize, told the Nobel committee in a phone interview the honour was "incredibly humbling".

"I didn't think it was possible to win the Nobel Prize in Economics before being significantly older than any of the three of us," she added.

Abhijit Banerjee became an American citizen in 2017.