Alkesh Kumar Sharma assumes charge as new secretary of MeitY

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has appointed Alkesh Kumar Sharma as its new secretary. A member of 1990 IAS batch from the Kerala cadre, Sharma replaces Ajay Prakash Sawhney, who was the secretary since June 2017.

Prior to this, Sharma was the additional secretary and secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India. He was in charge of looking at Cabinet proposals related to infrastructure, economy, agriculture, finance, and allied ministries.  

He has also worked as chief executive officer and managing director of National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) from October 2015 to September 2019 and was a member of a task force on programme management set up by Niti Aayog.

He has also worked as joint secretary at the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways from 2012 to 2015. During his stint as chairman of Indian Highways Management Company, he oversaw deployment of FASTAGs for toll collection.

In Kerala, Sharma was the managing director of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation. He was instrumental in branding and promoting Kerala Tourism as ‘God’s Own Country’ during his seven-year stint with the state government.

Sharma has also worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) from 2006 to 2009 as the national project director for urban development and poverty alleviation.

MeitY is one of the key ministries under the Government of India. The Digital India initiative and the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to boost electronic and chip manufacturing in India are some of the marquee projects by MeitY.