Noted Economist Rajiv Kumar was on Saturday appointed as the new Secretary of Niti Aayog. Kumar is currently associated with Centre for Policy Research (CPR) as a senior fellow, Press Trust of India reports. The Economist holds a DPhil in economics from Oxford and a PhD from Lucknow University. In his important assignments, Kumar has served as Secretary General of the FICCI and Director and Chief Executive of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). He also served as a member of the National Security Advisory Board between 2006 and 2008. The economist also worked as the chief economist of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and held senior positions in the the Asian Development Bank, the Indian Ministry of Industries, and the Ministry of Finance.
Kumar is also serving as a member of boards of several international and national institutions. The economist is currently onboard for King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center in Riyadh, the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and Asia in Jakarta, the State Bank of India, and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. The appointment for the post of NITI Aayog Vice Chairman was necessitated after incumbent Arvind Panagariya announced his resignation on August 1. Panagariya, an Indian-American, had joined as the Niti Aayog as it first vice-chairman in January 2015.
