NEW DELHI: Finance and Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia has refused an extension and will retire on November 30, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced in his blog on Saturday, while going on to shower praise on the bureaucrat who has been at the top of the Ministry of Finance’s machinery over the last four years.
The 1981-batch Gujarat cadre officer of the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) moved to New Delhi on November 2014 as Secretary in the Department of Financial Services and was eventually appointed as Revenue Secretary in August 2015.
When incumbent Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa retired, Adhia was also made Finance Secretary in September 2017.
Adhia has occupied positions overseeing key ministry functions during both demonetisation and the rollout of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in July 2017. Crediting Adhia efforts on the GST rollout, Jaitley said in his blog that “it was his efforts supported by his team of officers of Centre and state governments, which made it possible to hit the deadline of July 1, 2017. Rate reductions and smoothening of the rough edges were also achieved in a record time”.
For his part, Adhia tweeted that he would retire on November 30 “with a sense of great satisfaction for what I could do for the country. I am grateful to all those officers and staff who worked with me”, while also thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jaitley. Jaitley in his post also said Adhia’s tenure as the Revenue Secretary will be remembered for various initiatives where he provided the bureaucratic leadership.
In a late-night government order, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey has been named as Adhia's successor as the revenue secretary.
Adhia, a 1981-batch Gujarat cadre officer of the Indian Administrative Services (IAS), moved to Delhi in November 2014 as secretary in the Department of Financial Services after Narendra Modi became the prime minister.
During his four-year stint in the finance ministry, Adhia spearheaded rollout of the historic GST besides implementing a host of laws to unearth black money.
He was also deeply involved in the formulation of various social sector programmes of the Modi government.
Jaitley in his post said Adhia's tenure as the revenue secretary will be remembered for various initiatives where he provided the bureaucratic leadership in shaping and implementation of the policy.
"The campaign against black money both within and outside the country was the initial highlight of the revenue department," he said.
Jaitley also noted that the Income Tax Department now functions online with no physical interface between the assessee and the assessment official.
"I wish him all the best for his post-retirement life. Thank You Dr.Adhia," Jaitley said.
(with inputs from PTI)