The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Tuesday approved the appointment of AN Jha as the Finance Secretary of Ministry of Finance. Jha is currently serving as the Secretary in the Department of Expenditure.

The committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared Jha's appointment to the post after incumbent Hasmukh Adhia, a 1981-batch Gujarat cadre officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), retired on November 30.

Ajay Narayan Jha, 59, is a 1982-batch IAS officer of Manipur Tripura cadre. An alumnus of St Stephens College from where he passed with first class in Graduation and post graduation in History, Jha is a recipient of World Bank scholarship to pursue Masters in Economic Policy Management from McGill University in Canada.

He is also an MPhil in public administration from Delhi University.

Former chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian said Hasmukh Adhia will be remembered for his critical role in implementing the GST (Goods and Servies Tax). "Today Dr. Hasmukh Adhia (@adhia03) retires from government. Not only was he a great colleague, history will & should remember his critical role-along with that of @arunjaitley & central & state tax officials-in implementing the transformational GST. Thanks & best wishes Hasmukhji," Tweeted Arvind.