Apurva Chandra, a 1988-batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre, has been appointed the secretary of information and broadcasting ministry, the cabinet appointments committee said in an order issued late on Thursday.
Chandra will succeed Amit Khare, the current higher education secretary who holds the additional charge of the post of I&B secretary. Khare is scheduled to retire in September.
Chandra, a post-graduate in Structural Engineering from IIT Delhi, currently holds the post of labour & employment ministry secretary. “He has a long experience of dealing with issues relating to industries while working in Government of Maharashtra and Government of India,” the government statement said.
“Prior to this he was serving as Special Director General, Defence Acquisition, Ministry of Defence, a position where he played a key role in contributing towards AtmaNirbhar Bharat in terms of greater defence acquisition from domestic industry and at the same time keeping Defence Forces equipped with all its challenging requirements,” it added