JAIPUR: Senior IAS officer and Additional Chief Secretary Shikhar Agrawal was placed on awaiting posting orders (APO) late Wednesday, days after a media report raised questions about the purchase of 40 villas and cottages by him and his family from a single company and their subsequent leaseback to the same firm.
The personnel department cited “administrative reasons” for the decision. Agrawal, a 1993-batch officer, held several key responsibilities, including Additional Chief Secretary of Industries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, and chairman of RIICO. He had previously served as Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma. The order did not explicitly link the decision to the reported property transactions.
According to media reports, Agrawal, his IPS officer wife Prashakha Mathur, their two sons and his parents-in-law purchased 20 cottages in Bujhda, Udaipur, and 20 villas in Ajabgarh, Alwar, from Goyal Fashions Private Limited over approximately two-and-a-half years. The reported combined purchase price was ₹6.165 crore.
The properties were allegedly leased back to the company at annual rates of ₹4 lakh per cottage and ₹5 lakh per villa, amounting to ₹1.80 crore a year.
Meanwhile, a document purportedly issued by the state finance department on March 27, 2026, details a customised incentive package for Goyal Fashions’ hotel and resort project in Alwar. TNE has not independently verified the document.
The date on the document coincides with the reported registration date of the family’s 20 Ajabgarh villas. However, the document states that the package followed a decision taken at a Board of Investment meeting on February 14, 2026.
Under the package, the company would be eligible for an investment subsidy equivalent to 75% of state tax due and deposited for 10 years, a full exemption from electricity duty for the same period, and other benefits under the Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme, 2019.
Eligibility requires a minimum investment of ₹115 crore in the project at Gawand Kundal village in Ajabgarh gram panchayat, Thanagazi tehsil, and employment for 241 people, including 202 direct and 39 indirect jobs.
Questions have also been raised in media reports about the disclosure of the properties in annual immovable property returns. Agrawal has reportedly maintained that details of the purchases were disclosed in his property statements and tax returns.
Following the media reports, the state government's Department of Personnel issued an order removing Agrawal from his administrative assignments and placing him on APO until further orders. The order cited administrative reasons and did not itself announce any disciplinary proceedings.
The development comes as the tenure of current Chief Secretary V. Srinivas is due to end in December. With discussions about his potential successor already under way among senior IAS officers, Agrawal’s APO has also raised questions about his future administrative role and prospects of being considered for the top bureaucratic position.