The Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), commonly known as Gokhale Institute, is one of the oldest research and training institutes in Economics in India. It is located on BMCC Road in the Deccan Gymkhana area of Pune, Maharashtra – the city often termed as the Oxford of the East. The Institute was founded on June 6, 1930 by late Shri R R Kale as a centre for research and higher learning in economics. The Institute was founded with an endowment offered to the Servants of India Society by Shri R R Kale. The Servants of India Society, a registered body founded by the nationalist leader Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866–1915), are the trustees of the Institute. The Institute is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950. The Institute was set up with an objective to conduct research on the economic and political problems of India and to train research workers in these disciplines. Professor Dhananjaya Rao Gadgil, a renowned scholar and visionary, was the first Director of the Institute. Under his leadership, the institution laid the foundation for research, teaching and training in different branches of economics.