Saurabh Chandra, secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), will be the new petroleum secretary, the government announced Thursday.
Chandra will take over from Vivek Rae, who is retiring Feb 28.
Chandra, a 1978 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, will have a tenure of more than a year.
He becomes the topmost officer of the petroleum ministry at a time when it is to launch two key initiatives - the revision of domestic natural gas prices due from April 1, and the 10th round oil and gas block auctions under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).
As Secretary DIPP, Chandra presided over major initiatives involving foreign investment like opening up of multi-brand retail trade and allowing foreign airlines to buy equity in domestic airlines.