Debroy completed his education at Ramakrishna Mission School in Narendrapur; Presidency College, Calcutta, Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College, Cambridge.

He worked at the Presidency College, Calcutta, from 1979 to 1984, followed by the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, until 1987, and then the Foreign Trade Institute, Delhi, until 1993.

He then served as director of the Ministry of Finance/UNDP project on legal reforms from 1993 to 1998. He served at the Department of Economic Affairs from 1994 to 1995 and at the National Council for Applied Economic Research from 1995 to 1996. and the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies from 1997 to 2005.

He then joined the PhD Chamber of Commerce and Industry until 2006, then the Center for Policy Research from 2007 to 2015.

Debroy was also a member of NITI Aayog until June 5, 2019.

He has authored and edited many books, articles, and articles, as well as serving as a consulting/contributing editor to many newspapers.