The governm­ent has de­signated re­venue se­cretary Ha­s­mukh Adhia as new finance secretary on Monday. The post was vacant since the retirement of Ashok Lavasa in October.

According to an order iss­u­ed by the department of pe­rsonnel and training on Mo­nday, the appointments co­m­mittee of cabinet ap­proved designation of Adhia as the finance secretary. Adhia, as revenue secretary, has been overseeing rollout of goods and services tax as well as direct tax reforms.

The senior-most secreta­ry in the finance ministry is designated as the finance se­c­retary, as per the convention. Adhia is a 1981 batch Indian Administrative Servi­ce (IAS) officer of Gujarat cadre. Adhia’s appointment has been done ahead of the GST council meeting in Guwahati on November 10.

There are 5 departments under the finance ministry – expenditure, economic affairs, financial services, revenue and department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM).

While Rajiv Kumar, IAS officer of the 1984 batch is the financial services secretary; Ajay Narayan Jha is the expenditure secretary and Neeraj Kumar Gupta the DIPAM secretary. Both Jha and Gupta are IAS officers of the 1982 batch. Subhash Chandra Garg, a 1983 batch IAS officer, is the economic affairs secretary.

Lavasa, a 1980 batch IAS officer of Harayna cadre, was appointed finance secretary on May 31, 2016.