Rajesh Gawande appointed to the new gov cell for FDI

State officials said CM Fadnavis handpicked Gawande and got the central government to sanction this two year assignment for the IFS officer. Apart from handling the industries department, the CM wants Gawande to follow up with consulates to draw more investments into the state

MUMBAI: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has created a new cell in the government for matters of foreign direct investment (FDI). The state has appointed former regional passport officer Rajesh Gawande of the Indian Foreign Service as the chief protocol officer of the state and FDI.

Rajesh Gawande of the Indian Foreign Service has been posted as the chief protocol officer of the state in the new cell for matters of foreign direct investment (FDI).

This is the first time that an IFS officer has come to work on deputation for a state government. At present, the protocol department is being handled by Manisha Mhaiskar, but her work with the public works department is too time-consuming for her to hold both roles.

State officials said CM Fadnavis handpicked Gawande and got the central government to sanction this two year assignment for the IFS officer. Apart from handling the industries department, the CM wants Gawande to follow up with consulates to draw more investments into the state.

Gawande, an IFS officer from the 2009 batch, comes from the Ahilyanagar district. So far he has served as the Regional Passport Officer and the head of the branch secretariat of the Ministry of External Affairs in Mumbai.

Earlier he served in diplomatic assignments in Nairobi, Kampala and Berlin. He has also worked at the United Nations Division in the Ministry of External Affairs. In his last posting in Germany, he was the Economic Officer responsible for attracting German investments and technologies into India, and promoting India’s exports and tourism in Germany.