Looking Forward to Serve The Nation, Says Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar

New Delhi: Noted economist Rajiv Kumar on Sunday said he is looking forward to serve the country as the new Vice Chairman of Niti Aayog.

"Look forward to serve the nation with my role @nitiaayog @pmoindia," Kumar tweeted.

He was named the new Vice chairman of the government think-tank on Friday, five days after the incumbent Arvind Panagariya announced that he would quit to return to academia.

Kumar, who holds a DPhil in economics from Oxford and a PhD from Lucknow University, is a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR).

Earlier, he was Secretary General of industry chamber Ficci and had also served as Director and Chief Executive of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

He was a member of the National Security Advisory Board between 2006 and 2008.

He has also served as chief economist of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and has held senior positions in the the Asian Development Bank, the Ministry of Industries and the Ministry of Finance.

Kumar is also on the boards of several international and national institutions, including the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center in Riyadh, the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and Asia in Jakarta, the State Bank of India, and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.

The appointment for the post of Niti Aayog Vice Chairman was necessitated as the incumbent Panagariya on August 1 had announced that he will leave the government think-tank on August 31 and return to Columbia University.

Panagariya, an Indian-American, had joined the Niti Aayog in January 2015.

Industry chamber Ficci on Sunday praised the government for appointing Rajiv Kumar as the new Vice Chairman of Niti Aayog and said that the prompt decision will help the government think-tank maintain continuity in its policy advocacy work.

"Ficci welcomes the appointment of Rajiv Kumar as the new Vice Chairman of Niti Aayog," the chamber said in a statement.

The institution, Ficci said, has increasingly gained in importance given the focus the current government has placed on the subject of cooperative federalism.

"Ficci compliments the government for announcing the new Vice Chairman without any delay following the decision of Arvind Panagariya to join back academics. This decision of the government will help Niti maintain continuity in its policy advocacy work," the statement said.