Budget 2025: A few days before Union Budget 2025, a major reshuffle was announced in the Finance Ministry. In a notification on Wednesday, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet announced that Revenue Secretary Arunish Chawla will be transferred to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), while DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey will be the new Revenue Secretary.
Tuhin Kanta Pandey will continue to serve as Finance Secretary, the notification said.
Meanwhile, Arunish Chawla, Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises in the Ministry of Finance, and Secretary, Ministry of Culture, will also hold additional charge of the post till appointment of a regular incumbent or until further notice, whichever is earlier.
Chawla was appointed Revenue Secretary in the Finance Ministry on December 25 last year, when he was serving as the Secretary, Pharmaceuticals Department in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. He continued to hold the charge of the Ministry of Culture even then. The post of revenue secretary fell vacant after Sanjay Malhotra was appointed as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Pandey, a 1987-batch IAS officer of the Odisha cadre, was also holding the additional charge of Secretary, Public Enterprises Department.
These changes come days before the Union Budget presentation on February 1. The reshuffle is seen as a strategic adjustment by the government as it prepares for the crucial fiscal planning period ahead.
