Ajay Kumar (civil servant)


Ajay Kumar is a 1985 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Kerala cadre. He is the current Union Defence Secretary of India.

Education

Kumar has a Bachelor of Technology in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, has a Master of Science in development economics from the University of Minnesota, and has a Doctor of Philosophy degree in business administration from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.
in 2019, he was facilitated as distinguished alumni by Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur for his professional excellence and nation building efforts.

Career

Kumar has served in various posts in both the Government of India and the Government of Kerala, such as Principal Secretary, managing director of the Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation, Secretary, managing director of the Kerala State Co-operative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, general manager in the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation and as the district magistrate and collector of the Palghat district in the Kerala government; and as the Defence Production Secretary, additional secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, joint secretary in the Department of Information Technology of the now-erstwhile Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, director in the Department of Biotechnology of the Ministry of Science and Technology and as a deputy secretary in the Department of Home of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Indian government.
Ajay kumar spent three decade of his service with the Kerala state government where he headed three different departments.
Kumar also served as a private secretary to a minister in the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources.

Defence Production Secretary

Kumar was appointed as the Union Defence Production Secretary by the prime minister-headed Appointments Committee of the Cabinet in November 2017, he assumed office on 1 December 2017. He served as Defence Production Secretary till 23 August 2019 and was succeeded by Subhash Chandra, an IAS officer of Karnataka cadre.

Defence Secretary

Kumar was appointed as Union Defence Secretary on 21 August 2019, and he assumed office on 23 August 2019 when Sanjay Mitra retired.
Kumar travelled to Paris along with Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh to take delivery of first Rafale fighter jet.