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Amitabh Kant gets one-year extension as NITI Aayog CEO
Kant, an Indian Administrative Service official of the Kerala cadre, has been instrumental in several policy initiatives of the government, including ‘Make in India’, ‘Start-up India’, and ‘Incredible India’ and has recently been spearheading the ease of doing business initiatives of NITI Aayog.
Amitabh Kant has been given an extension of one year as the chief executive officer (CEO) of federal policy think tank NITI Aayog, according to an official order.
Kant, an Indian Administrative Service official of the Kerala cadre, has been instrumental in several policy initiatives of the government, including ‘Make in India’, ‘Start-up India’, and ‘Incredible India’ and has recently been spearheading the ease of doing business initiatives of NITI Aayog.
He has also been engaging with civil society organisations extensively as chairperson of a task force set up for covid management.
Kant’s tenure has been extended for one year up to June 30 next year or until further orders, whichever is earlier, the appointments committee of the cabinet said.
He was earlier given a two-year extension in the current post in June 2019.
Kant has been playing a key role in NITI Aayog’s initiatives to rank states on their track record in sustainable development and in formulating policies on key priority areas of the government, including clean energy, electric mobility, and self-reliance in manufacturing. He is overseeing efforts to help the most backward districts in the country to prosper.
Before taking over as the CEO of the NITI Aayog, Kant was secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
NITI Aayog has been playing an important role in policy making by drawing up the initial blueprints for various initiatives of the government including disinvestment and privatisation of banks. In April, Kant said at the Mint India Investment Summit 2021 that despite the impact of the pandemic, India’s macroeconomic fundamentals remain sound and that the country needs to continue on a strong growth path over a long period as essential reforms across many key sectors have been put in place.
“I am quite hopeful that once Covid is over, we will accelerate the pace of growth in a very big way across key sectors,” Kant had said then.
