New order in economic ministries

The government is set to appoint Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Rakesh Mohan as the new finance secretary, marking a return to economists getting the top bureaucratic job in North Block.

K M Chandrasekhar, who's currently India's ambassador to the World Trade Organisation, will be the revenue secretary.

Special Secretary (commerce) S N Menon will be the new commerce secretary, replacing Dipak Chatterjee whose three-month extended term is scheduled to end on September 30.

Vijay Kelkar, who is at present adviser to the finance minister, was the last non-bureaucrat finance secretary. Apart from Kelkar, economists like IG Patel and Montek Singh Ahluwalia have also been finance secretaries, while Manmohan Singh has served as the economic affairs secretary.

Mohan will replace DC Gupta, who is slated to retire on October 31. Chandrasekhar's appointment is expected over the next few days since Revenue Secretary Vineeta Rai will retire at the end of the month.

The RBI deputy governor has served in the finance ministry as adviser to former Finance Minister Yashwant Singh, following the then Chief Economic Adviser Shankar Acharya's decision to take a sabbatical.

He has also had a long stint in the industry ministry as economic adviser and was later director general of the National Council of Applied Economic Research.

Chandrasekhar, a 1970 batch IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, has been in Geneva since 2001 and was recently promoted to the rank of secretary.

He has substantial experience in dealing with trade-related issues, having worked in the commerce ministry as a joint secretary and subsequently as minister (economic) in India's embassy in Brussels. He was also the chairman of the Spices Board during the Uruguay Round negotiations.

Menon, a 1969 batch officer from the West Bengal cadre, has also had a long stint in the commerce ministry, having been additional secretary and financial adviser and has dealt with multilateral and bilateral trade issues since 2002.