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PC swings into action with reshuffle in North Block

Finance minister P Chidambaram has started a reshuffle in the ministry to accompany the refocusing of tax administration with a view to bringing in a more investment-friendly regime.

Finance minister P Chidambaram has started a reshuffle in the ministry to accompany the refocusing of tax administration with a view to bringing in a more investment-friendly regime. The reshuffle, which coincides with some of the routine movements, will result in an altogether new team of senior civil servants manning North Block.

The ministry is awaiting formal appointments to heads its two key organs, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Customs and Excise (CBEC). Poonam Kishore Saxena, who was recently given additional charge of CBDT’s chairmanship is set to be formally appointed chief of the board. CBEC is now led by Praveen Mahajan as acting chairperson. Chidambaram had swapped the roles of expenditure and revenue secretaries late on Sunday, followed by a similar switch in roles of two joint secretaries in the department of economic affairs, which houses the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). Prabodh Saxena, the joint secretary who handled administration and bilaterals, was given the charge of infrastructure and investment, which was previously with Rajesh Khullar, who will now handle administration and bilaterals.

FIPB is handled by the joint secretary in charge of investment. Sources said Saxena’s term in the ministry may come to an end by January, after which the ministry has to find a replacement. Thomas Mathew, joint secretary (capital markets) in the Department of Economic Affairs, is likely to move to Rashtrapati Bhavan, the orders for which are expected in a couple of days. Earlier this month, Arvind Mayaram, who was financial advisor and special secretary in the rural development ministry joined the finance ministry as secretary, department of economic affairs.Raghuram Rajan, a former chief economist of the IMF, is considered as a frontrunner for the post of chief economic advisor in the finance ministry. Former revenue secretary RS Gujral, on Monday, assumed charge as expenditure secretary and continues to hold the rank of finance secretary, while Sumit Bose has taken charge as revenue secretary.

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First published on: 08-08-2012 at 02:07 IST
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