Amit Agrawal

Biography

Mr Amit Agrawal is a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), currently serving as Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services. An alumnus of IIT Kanpur, since joining the IAS in 1993, he has served in senior administrative and policy-making positions in both Government of India and the State Governments of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Mr Agrawal's experience in apex public policy-making and public administration positions at the national and state levels has been broadly in the areas of finance, technology, innovation and technical education. Prior to his present assignment, Mr Agrawal was Finance Secretary and Commercial Tax Secretary to the State Government of Chhattisgarh. His earlier charges include that of the State Technical Education & Manpower Planning Secretary in Chhattisgarh; Adviser and Director in the Office of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council; Officer on Special Duty with the Chairman of the National Innovation Council; Director and Deputy Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office; and MD/Head of the State agencies for IT & Biotechnology, Infrastructure Development, Institutional Finance and Watershed Development in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Prior to these, he served with distinction in the district administration as District Collector and as CEO of District Panchayat. As the State Finance Secretary in Chhattisgarh, Mr Agrawal was administratively responsible for the sharpest fiscal correction in the State's history, which was reflected in Reserve Bank of India's annual survey of state finances in terms of the state being the best nationally in terms of debt burden, interest servicing, developmental expenditure and social expenditure, while being FRBM-compliant and revenue account surplus and registering significant up-ticks in capital expenditure and additional revenue mobilisation. At the same time, he was also engaged in a massive expansion of the banking network in the left wing extremism affected Bastar region and in expanding financial inclusion across the State. From 2004 to 2013, while with the offices of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council and the National Innovation Council and the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Agrawal handled national policy matters relating to a diverse set of development and regulatory sectors. Earlier, Mr Agrawal led several pioneering, people- and market-oriented initiatives. While CEO of District Panchayat, Dhar, he conceived and implemented a rural IT project which received the Stockholm Challenge IT Award in 2000 for marking a ‘paradigm shift in e-governance’. The underlying idea subsequently found reflection in e-governance projects across the country, including the Common Service Centre Scheme under the National eGovernance Plan. As the CEO of the State IT Agency of Chhattisgarh, he conceptualised and implemented the first Information Technology Act compliant e-governance project in India, e-retailing citizen services through private agents on commercially viable terms. Elements from the state government’s subordinate legislation of 2003 found reflection in subsequent amendments incorporated in the Information Technology Act. During his stint in Dhar District, he launched half a dozen innovative district-level development initiatives in diverse spheres, which were recommended by the State Government for replication in districts across the State.

Research Interest

commerce banking accounting