Tuhin Kanta Pandey, the name hogging the media limelight currently, is the country’s new finance secretary, appointed on September 7 by the Union Cabinet. He succeeded TV Somanathan after the latter’s elevation to the post of the cabinet secretary.
A 1987-batch IAS from Odisha cadre, Tuhin has had a distinguished career spanning over three decades, rising from the post of district collector of Sambalpur in Odisha to becoming the country’s finance secretary at a time when India is striving for a prime slot in the world’s five biggest economies.
Tuhin is best known for his role in leading the high-profile disinvestment programs of the central government that saw the historic sale of Air India and the listing of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for sale, serving as the secretary of the Departments of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), before being appointed as finance secretary. He also briefly held additional charge as secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2021.
Known for his expertise in handling public assets, Tuhin’s career as a bureaucrat reached a high watermark in 2009, when he was appointed as a joint secretary in the Planning Commission.
A post-graduate in Economics from Punjab University and an MBA from the United Kingdom, Tuhin oversaw the Odisha government’s financial department and has been associated with the Finance Ministry for a long time.
