In a major bureaucratic reshuffle that would mark a virtual reboot of the brass in the ministry of finance, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Friday appointed Arvind Shrivastava Indias next secretary in charge of revenue, Vumlunmang Vualnam secretary in the Department of Expenditure (DoE), and Anuradha Thakur secretary-designate at the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA).
Finance Secretary Ajay Seth, who heads the DEA, has been holding additional charge of the Department of Revenue, after the previous finance secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey, who held charge of revenue as well, was appointed the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India in late February.
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Shrivastava, a 1994-batch Karnataka-cadre Indian Administrative Service officer, is currently serving as additional secretary in the prime ministers office, while Vualnam, a 1992-batch IAS offer from the Manipur cadre, is the civil aviation secretary.
The incumbent expenditure secretary, Manoj Govil, has been appointed secretary-coordination in the Cabinet Secretariat.
Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Cabinets appointments panel also cleared the appointment of 1994-batch Himachal Pradesh-cadre IAS officer Anuradha Thakur as an officer on special duty in the DEA. Thakur, an additional secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs, will take on the secretarys role at the DEA, after Seths superannuation on June 30.
K Moses Chalai, another Manipur-cadre IAS officer of the 1990 batch, has been named secretary in the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE). Until now, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) Secretary Arunish Chawla had been holding additional charge of the DPE.
The appointment of four new officials for its most senior roles culminates what has been a period of unusually high turnover at the finance ministry, with earlier revenue secretary Sanjay Malhotra appointed as the Reserve Bank of India Governor in December 2024, shortly before the tenure of then-Mint Street boss Shaktikanta Das came to an end.
With the Union Budget for 2025-26 two months away at the time, the government had named Chawla as the revenue secretary in late December, but he was subsequently moved to take charge of Dipam and the DPE. Then finance secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey, who also headed DIPAM and DPE at the time, was given charge of the revenue department in early January, with weeks to go for the Budget.
The latest reshuffle comes a day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India would address challenges arising from global uncertainties, including tariff wars and trade realignment, through policy agility and long-term vision.
The Cabinets apex appointment panel also approved the elevation of Rajesh Agarwal, additional secretary in the ministry of commerce and industry, to the post of special secretary in the Department of Commerce. Agarwal will assume the commerce secretarys role upon the superannuation of incumbent Sunil Barthwal on September 30, 2025.
His appointment is expected to ensure a smooth transition and maintain policy continuity, particularly as the department engages in intensive trade negotiations with Indias key trade partners.
Agarwal is Indias chief negotiator for the proposed bilateral trade agreement with the US, the first tranche of which both countries aim to conclude by September-October.
Meanwhile, Odisha-cadre IAS officer Santosh Kumar Sarangi, currently director-general in the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, has been appointed secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy. Karnataka-cadre IAS officer Vandana Gurnani has been appointed labour secretary, while Bihar-cadre officer Rajit Punhani will become skill secretary following the superannuation of incumbent Atul Kumar Tiwari on June 30.
The appointment of the new revenue secretary comes at a critical time as Indias tax administration navigates important policy transitions amid global economic headwinds. Among Shrivastavas immediate challenges will be ensuring strong tax revenue mobilisation in the face of global trade tensions, particularly reciprocal tariff threats by the United States. He will also play a key role in the implementation of the Income Tax Bill, 2025.
Ruchika Chitravanshi, Monika Yadav and Shreya Nandi, Business Standard
