Top level bureaucratic changes at Finance Ministry: 4 departments get new secretaries

In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has cleared four top-level appointments across crucial departments under the Ministry of Finance, signalling a significant change in North Block’s leadership.

Anuradha Thakur, a 1996-batch IAS officer from Himachal Pradesh and currently Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, has been named Officer on Special Duty in the Department of Economic Affairs. She will formally take over as Secretary of the department upon the superannuation of Ajay Seth on June 30 this year.  Thakur will be the first woman Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, marking a historic moment at the crucial department. Seth continues to serve as Finance Secretary until his superannuation.

Arvind Shrivastava, IAS (Karnataka, 1994), has been appointed Secretary, Department of Revenue. Meanwhile, Vivek Agarwal, who has been serving as Additional Secretary in the Revenue Department and playing a key role in FATF-related negotiations, will now head the Ministry of Culture as its new Secretary.

Vumlunmang Vualnam, currently the Civil Aviation Secretary and a 1992-batch IAS officer from Manipur, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Expenditure. He replaces Manoj Govil, who has been moved to the Cabinet Secretariat.

The Department of Public Enterprises will now be headed by K. Moses Chalai, a 1990-batch IAS officer from Manipur. He replaces Arunish Chawla, who was holding additional charge of the department while serving as Secretary, DIPAM.

The newly appointed team under Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman faces a challenging year ahead, marked by tight fiscal targets and evolving global uncertainties, including trade headwinds triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s ‘reciprocal’ tariffs. With just 10 months to prepare the next Union Budget, the team will need to quickly take stock of what’s been achieved so far, and what lies ahead.