New Delhi, March 24 : Ajay Seth, a 1987 batch IAS officer of the Karnataka cadre, was designated as the new Finance Secretary on Monday, according to an official order. Seth is currently the Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Finance Ministry.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved designating Seth as the Finance Secretary, said the order issued by the Personnel Ministry. As per the convention, the senior-most secretary in the Union Finance Ministry is designated as the Finance Secretary. Earlier this month, Seth was given the additional charge of Revenue Secretary.
A B.Tech graduate in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Roorkee and holding an MBA from Ateneo de Manila University, he took over as Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, in April 2021. He has over three decades of expertise in public finance and social sector administration.
His experience spans budgeting, tax policy, foreign investments, bilateral and multilateral financial cooperation, development financing, and public-private partnerships. Seth has also gained recognition for his work in streamlining Karnataka’s commercial tax administration, receiving the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration in 2013.
The Finance Secretary’s post fell vacant after the appointment of Tuhin Kanta Pandey as the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) recently. Pandey concluded his tenure as the Finance Secretary and Secretary of the Department of Revenue which saw him playing a key role in the formation of the Union Budget that undertook the bold initiative of exempting all those earning up to Rs 12 lakh a year from paying income tax to boost demand and drive growth in the economy.
He also played an important role in drafting the new Income Tax Bill, based on global best practices, to simplify the language and structure of the Income-tax Act, 1961, reducing the Act’s volume by close to 50 per cent.
IANS