The government has appointed former finance secretary, Ajay Seth, as the Chairman of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). As per the government notification, Seth has been appointed Chairman for a period of three years.
“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Ajay Seth, IAS (Retd), former Finance Secretary and Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, to the post of Chairperson, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) for a period of three years or till the incumbent attains the age of 65 years or until further orders, whichever is the earliest,” the notification said.
The post was vacant since Debashish Panda resigned in March this year. Seth was also given the additional charge of Revenue Secretary in March this year, apart from Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) Secretary, after Tuhin Kanta Pandey moved away from his role to assume charge as SEBI Chairperson.
A 1987-batch IAS officer from the Karnataka cadre, Ajay Seth has most of his professional experience in the domains of public finance, social sector administration, urban transport and infrastructure dealing with matters concerning public expenditure, tax policy and administration, budget, accounts, project appraisal, foreign investments, bilateral and multilateral financial cooperation, development financing, public-private-partnerships, school education, health, urban transport and infrastructure.
He has held different positions in the Government of India, Government of Karnataka and Asian Development Bank.
Ajay Seth received the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration in 2013.
He is an alumnus of University of Roorkee and Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines.
