Revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia was on Monday appointed as finance secretary in the union ministry of finance. He replaces Ashok Lavasa who achieved superannuation last month.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved designating Adhia as the finance secretary, the order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training said. As per convention, the senior most secretary in the finance ministry is designated as the finance secretary.

There are five departments under the Finance Ministry—expenditure, economic affairs, financial services, revenue, and department of investment and public asset management (Dipam). IAS officer Rajiv Kumar of 1984 batch is the financial services secretary. Ajay Narayan Jha is expenditure secretary and Neeraj Kumar Gupta Secretary, Dipam. Both are 1982 batch IAS officers. Subhash Chandra Garg, a 1983 batch IAS officer, is economic affairs secretary.

A 1981 batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, Adhia has played a pivotal role in formulating the goods and services tax (GST) and is all part of the GST Council, the federal body that governs the indirect tax. #casansaar (Source - PTI, LiveMint)