NEW DELHI -- Former Indian prime minister and veteran leader of India's main opposition Congress party Manmohan Singh died at 92 Thursday after a prolonged illness, health officials said.

Singh served two consecutive terms as prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014, leading a coalition government under the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

He had been considered the architect of India's economic liberalization in 1991 when he was the country's finance minister.

Singh, a renowned economist and statesman, had been staying away from politics in recent years due to health reasons and was not keeping well since the beginning of this year.