NEW DELHI: Appointments Committee of Cabinet on Wednesday approved the appointment of West Bengal cadre and 1982 batch officer Sanjay Mitra as the next defence secretary of the country to replace incumbent G Mohan Kumar, who is retiring on May 24.
Mitra, who was presently Secretary in the ministry of road transport and highways and considered to be close to the union Transport and Shipping minister Nitin Gadkari, has been asked to join as the Officer-on –special-duty in the defence ministry and will assure charge on May and will get a fixed tenure of two years as the defence secretary.
Mohan Kumar, during his stint in the defence ministry, brought out its new procurement policy but could not complete a key chapter on the strategic partnership model to identify Indian firms that can forge alliances with foreign defence contractors to build high-tech defence systems in the country. However, the Kumar played key rule working out blacklisting policy.
Some of the key deals sealed during his term include contracts for Rafale warplanes, Chinook heavy-lift choppers, Apache attack helicopters, advanced medium-range surface-to-air missiles and M777 ultra-light howitzers.
ACC also approved appointment of Brij Raj Sharma as additional secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs.