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Shri Ajay Shankar has recently taken
over as Member Secretary of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council.
Ajay Shankar joined the Indian Administrative Service, India"s premier career
civil service in 1973. He has a Masters in Political Science from Allahabad
University and a Masters in Economics from Georgetown University, Washington
D.C. He taught Political Science at Allahabad University for two years before
joining Government.
He has rich and varied experience in the Central and State Governments in
industrial promotion, the energy sector and urban management and development.
He retired as Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion in the
Commerce and Industry Ministry, Government of India in December, 2009. He played
a critical role in putting together the stimulus packages at the time of the
global economic crisis 2008 as a member of Group of Secretaries constituted for
this purpose. He took a number of policy decisions to improve the
competitiveness of the Indian industrial sector. Under his stewardship, the plan
for the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor project was developed for
implementation. The Foreign Direct Investment policy was further liberalized and
became more investor-friendly.
Prior to that, he was Principal Adviser in the Planning Commission looking after
the water, sanitation and environment and forest sectors as well as provision of
rural infrastructure.
As Joint Secretary/Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Power he played a key
role in preparation and enactment of the Electricity Act, 2003 , and the rules
and policies under the Act. This created a new liberal framework for the
development of the power sector in India and was one of the major pieces of
reform legislation at that time. He was also instrumental in promoting private
sector participation in the Power Sector and the ultra mega power projects. He
conceived the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana for completing the rural
electrification.
As CEO, Greater NOIDA Industrial Development Authority, he was responsible for
the development of one of the most attractive industrial townships. He was
Secretary to the Lt. Governor of Delhi for over 5 years, and has also been
Commissioner, Kanpur and Chairman, Kanpur Development Authority.
He has served on the Board of major public sector companies such as IDBI, EXIM
Bank, NTPC, NHPC, PFC, REC. He has been Chairman of the Damodar Velly
Corporation. He has been a member of Committees on reform of public sector
undertakings, electricity distribution and resources for the power sector for
the 10th Plan. He was closely associated with the design of the Jawaharlal Nehru
National Solar Mission.
After retirement he was a Distinguished Fellow with TERI. He served on the Board
of Tata Global Beverages Ltd. His articles on economic policy issues have been
appearing in the national papers.
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