Govt appoints Rahul Khullar as TRAI chairman

14 May 2012 Evaluate

Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar has been named to succeed J S Sarma as the Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), after his appointment was cleared by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 13. Khullar, who still has a year to go in the Commerce Ministry, said would resign soon and would be taking up his new duties on May 14. He will have a three-year term.

Khullar has joined the telecom regulator at a time when the industry is divided over spectrum pricing, while other issues including the 2G scam. The spectrum auction is to be conducted before August 31, 2012. As commerce secretary, Khullar was credited for normalization of trade between India and Pakistan. He had been successful in implementing measures that helped exports cross $300 billion in 2011-12.

Former DIPP Secretary RP Singh, Defence Production Secretary Shekhar Agarwal, Fertiliser Secretary Ajay Bhattacharya, Former DoT Member (Technology) Chandra Prakash, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Subodh Kumar, former Secretary (Defence Finance) Indu Liberhan and Vijayalakshmi K Gupta were the other contenders for the post.

Khullar, a 1975 batch IAS officer and was posted in the PMO from 1985 to 1990, serving under Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and VP Singh. He was private secretary to Manmohan Singh during 1991-93, when he was initiating economic reforms as the FM. Khullar was also considered a frontrunner for the post of finance secretary last year.

© 2026 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×