Rajiv Kumar to be new Finance Secretary

Rajiv Kumar, currently serving as Financial Services Secretary, was on Tuesday designated as the new Finance Secretary.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the designation of Kumar as the new Finance Secretary, according to an official order.

Kumar is a 1984 batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre. His appointment comes in the backdrop of transfer of Subhash Chandra Garg as the power secretary. Garg has already sought voluntary retirement from service.

Kumar is credited with undertaking multiple reforms in the banking sector and providing a record amount of capital infusion in the public sector banks.

Since the commencement of clean-up in 2015-16, the recapitalisation has crossed over Rs 3 lakh crore through the mix of budgetary support and market raising, helping banks to make adequate provisions for the bad loans.

As a result, there has been a reversal in the deteriorating bad loan situation and there has been a record loan recovery in the last fiscal.

Following the cleaning-up exercise undertaken by Kumar, banks have started posting profits in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

Before joining the Finance Ministry, Kumar was the Establishment Officer in the Department of Personnel and Training.

He was instrumental in many initiatives including streamlining of promotion and appointment process done by the ACC.