1 month ago
Confirming a CNBC-TV18 news report, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey as the new Chairman of SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India). Pandey will assume office for an initial tenure of three years.
“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shri Tuhin Kanta Pandey, IAS (OR:1987), Finance Secretary and Secretary, Department of Revenue to the post of Chaiman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), initially for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” the government order stated.
The CNBC-TV18 report had earlier said that Pandey was among a list of contenders for the role. Ajay Seth, Secretary, the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Pankaj Jain, Secretary, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and KC Varshney, Whole-Time Member, SEBI, were other contenders, according to the CNBC-TV18 report.
The government invited applications for the position in January, setting February 17, 2025, as the submission deadline.
The tenure of the current SEBI Chairperson, Madhabi Puri Buch, ends on March 1. She assumed office on March 2, 2022, for a three-year term, becoming the first woman to lead SEBI. Buch succeeded Ajay Tyagi, who served for five years from March 2017 to February 2022. Before him, UK Sinha held the position for six years, marking back-to-back extended tenures in SEBI's leadership.
Who is Tuhin Kanta Pandey, the new SEBI chief?
Pandey is a 1987 batch officer from the Odisha cadre who will be signing off as Finance and Revenue Secretary. Although he served as Revenue Secretary for less than two months, he played a key role in the significant overhaul of income tax slabs and the customs duty structure under the latest budget. As Revenue Secretary, he also spearheaded the new Income Tax Bill, which is currently under review by the parliamentary select committee. Pandey assumed charge of the Revenue Department on January 9, 2025.
Before this, Pandey served as Secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), where he played a pivotal role in the divestment of Air India and the listing of LIC. Before taking charge as Revenue Secretary, he held leadership roles in three departments: DIPAM (since October 24, 2019), the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) (since August 1, 2024), and the Department of Personnel and Training (since November 4, 2024). Both DIPAM and DPE function under the Ministry of Finance.
Pandey holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Panjab University, Chandigarh, and an MBA from the UK. Throughout his distinguished career, he has held several significant positions in both the Union Government and the State Government of Odisha. He also had a stint at the Regional Office of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).
At the Centre, his previous roles include Joint Secretary in the Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog), Joint Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, and Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce. In his home cadre of Odisha, Pandey served as the administrative head in the Departments of Health, General Administration, Commercial Taxes, Transport, and Finance. He also held key roles as Executive Director of the Odisha State Finance Corporation and Managing Director of the Odisha Small Industries Corporation.
