Rajeev Kher appointed as commerce secretary; to take over from padma shri SR Rao on Jan 31

THE government has handpicked commerce ministry veteran and 1980 batch UP cadre IAS officer Rajeev Kher as the country’s next commerce secretary. Kher, who has been in Udyog Bhawan since July 2006, will succeed 1978 batch Gujarat cadre IAS SR Rao on January 31. Incidentally, Rao has a rare distinction of being the only serving IAS officer now who is a…padma shri award winner.
In the ministry of commerce, Kher was first a joint secretary, then an additional secretary before getting elevated to the rank of a special secretary. Between 1997 and 1999, Kher was a director in the cabinet secretariat and then became a joint secretary in the ministry of environment and forest.
Kher, who hails from UP, was collector of Etawah in the late 1980s. In the state, Kher served in several departments including sports, general administration, planning board, finance, science and technology etc.
For three years, between 2003 and 2006, Kher was working with the Energy and Resource Institute, or Teri. The commerce secretary designate has postgraduate degrees both in chemistry and development economics. Kher is also an LLB and diploma holder in environment laws.