Less than a month before the Union budget, the government on Wednesday appointed its seniormost secretary, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, as the revenue department head in place of Arunish Chawla, who took over the charge as revenue secretary only about 14 days ago.

Chawla has been appointed as the secretary in the department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM), replacing Pandey. “Shri Arunish Chawla, IAS (BH:92) will also hold additional charge of the post of secretary, department of public enterprises, ministry of finance, and secretary, ministry of culture till the appointment of a regular incumbent or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” a government order said citing decisions of the Appointments Committee of Centre (ACC).

“Shri Tuhin Kanta Pandey, IAS (OR:87) will continue to be designated as Finance Secretary [FS],” the order issued on Wednesday night said.

Seniormost secretary in the ministry of finance are designated as finance secretary. Pandey has been actively associated with the finance ministry since August 28, 2016, as additional secretary and principal secretary. He has been acting as DIPAM secretary since October 22, 2019 and has been instrumental in the shift in government’s disinvestment strategy. The government discontinued giving any specific number for disinvestment from revised estimates of FY24 and instead of that focused on wealth creation by public sector enterprises, which included dividends and profits.

In an interview with HT after the interim budget in February 2024, Pandey said: “We are now focusing on value creation so that values of public assets and enterprises are optimised. Some of the values could be disposed through monetisation, others could be incomes in terms of dividends. Even disposal should be linked with the right value of the asset. For example, if the market is depressed, certainly it is unwise to sell. But, if the market is rising, then also you have to judge, what is the right time to get the maximum value. You have to take this call. Similarly, on dividends, we have to ensure that companies keep enough profits for capital expenditure and expansion. Hence, the government would take a part of their net profit as dividend. This is the concept of integrated wealth management.”

A government official on condition of anonymity said: “Dr Arunish Chawla’s is a bright officer and has a long career, but the forthcoming budget needed a more experienced person to handle the crucial revenue-related matters.” Chawla was appointed for the position after ACC, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the appointment of then revenue secretary Sanjay Malhotra as governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of three years from December 11, 2024. “His sudden elevation at the time of budget had created a void, which needed experience,” the official said.

Chawla, a 1992-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Bihar cadre, served as the secretary in the Department of Pharmaceuticals in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers since November 1, 2023. Before serving as Secretary in the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Chawla served as the Managing Director of the Metro Rail Project Patna; and on Foreign Assignment through Department of Economic Affairs as the Senior Economist, International Monetary Fund; Minister (Economic), Embassy of India in Washington DC; and also as Joint Secretary in the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. He had also done his Masters and Doctorate in Economics from the London School of Economics.

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