Who is Anurag Jain? The bureaucrat behind Jan Dhan, PM Gati Shakti taking charge as NITI Aayog CEO

The Centre has appointed Anurag Jain, a 1989-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog for a two-year term. The appointment takes effect from the date he assumes charge. He succeeds interim CEO Nidhi Chhibber, who was given additional charge after former CEO BVR Subrahmanyam completed his extended tenure in February this year.

Born in Gwalior in 1965, Jain is an Electrical Engineering graduate from IIT Kharagpur (1986) and holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Maxwell School, Syracuse University, US. He brings nearly four decades of administrative experience across industrial policy, infrastructure development, logistics, finance, urban planning and state administration, making him one of the government’s most experienced implementation-focused bureaucrats.

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Before moving to NITI Aayog, Jain served as the Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh, a post he took over in October 2024. His tenure as Chief Secretary was scheduled to end on August 31, 2026, but he has now been moved to the Centre. Following his appointment, the Madhya Pradesh government has named Ashok Barnwal, a 1991-batch IAS officer and Additional Chief Secretary, as the officiating Chief Secretary.

Jain has held some of the most significant economic policymaking assignments in the Union government. As Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) between September 2021 and April 2023, he led the implementation of PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, the Centre’s GIS-based digital platform that integrates infrastructure planning across ministries. The initiative received the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration in 2023. During his tenure, he also oversaw the rollout of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, Startup India, National Logistics Policy, industrial corridor development, FDI policy reforms, and several initiatives aimed at improving India’s logistics competitiveness and manufacturing ecosystem.

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He later took charge as Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), where he supervised the expansion of the national highway network while pushing initiatives to improve multimodal connectivity, logistics efficiency and transport infrastructure. His experience across DPIIT and MoRTH gave him a unique vantage point in integrating industrial policy with infrastructure execution.

Earlier in his career, Jain worked in the Department of Financial Services, where he is credited with conceptualising and implementing the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, which went on to become the world’s largest financial inclusion programme. He subsequently served as Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office between 2011 and 2015, contributing to several key governance and policy initiatives.

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Jain has also held important assignments outside the economic ministries. He served as Vice Chairman of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), overseeing urban planning and housing projects in the national capital. In Madhya Pradesh, he worked as Secretary to then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for nearly five-and-a-half years. During this period, he played a key role in drafting and implementing the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Guarantee Act, pioneering legislation for time-bound delivery of public services that was subsequently replicated by several other states. Earlier in his career, he also served as Collector of Mandla, Mandsaur and Bhopal, giving him extensive field-level administrative experience.

Jain’s appointment comes at a time when NITI Aayog is expected to play a larger role in coordinating infrastructure planning, manufacturing policy, logistics reforms and Centre-State cooperation. Given his experience across Jan Dhan, PM Gati Shakti, PLI schemes, industrial policy, highways, logistics, urban development and state administration, his elevation signals the government’s continued emphasis on implementation-driven governance rather than policy formulation alone. His blend of field administration, PMO experience and leadership across key economic ministries is expected to shape NITI Aayog’s role as the government’s apex public policy think tank over the next two years.