DenicePitcairn at 11:46, 6 April 2026

2026-04-06T11:46:52Z

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{{Short description|Chairman of IRDAI}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Ajay Seth
| birth_name = Ajay Seth
| caption =
| occupation = [[Bureaucrat]]
| image = Shri Ajay Seth IAS.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1965|06|30}}
| birth_place = [[India]]
| office = [[Chairman|Chairman of]] [[Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority|Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India]]
| predecessor = Debasish Panda
|appointer = [[Appointments Committee of the Cabinet]]
| term_start = 1 September 2025
| office1 = [[Finance Secretary of India]]
| term_start1 = 24 March 2025
| term_end1 = 30 June 2025
| predecessor1 = [[Tuhin Kanta Pandey]]
|successor1= '''Vacant'''
|appointer1 = [[Appointments Committee of the Cabinet]]
| office2 = [[Secretary to the Government of India|Economic Affairs Secretary of India]]
|appointer2 = [[Appointments Committee of the Cabinet]]
| term_start2 = 16 April 2021
| term_end2 = 30 June 2025
| predecessor2 = Tarun Bajaj
|successor2= Anuradha Thakur
| office3 = [[chief executive officer|CEO of]] [[Namma Metro|Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited]]
| term_start3 = July 2018
| term_end3 = April 2021
|successor3 = Rakesh Singh<ref>{{Cite web |date= 10 April 2021|title= Rakesh Singh is the new MD of Bangalore Metro |url= https://metrorailnews.in/rakesh-singh-is-new-md-of-bangalore-metro/|access-date= 13 November 2025|website= Metro Rail News |language=en}}</ref>
|appointer3 = [[Government of Karnataka]]
| alma_mater = ([[Bachelor of Technology|B.Tech]]) [[IIT Roorkee]]<br>([[Master of Business Administration|MBA]]) [[Ateneo de Manila University]]
|awards = [[Orders, decorations, and medals of India#Other national awards|Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration]]
}}
'''Ajay Seth''' (born 30 June 1965<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|title=Ajay Seth |url= https://thesecretariat.in/bureautrack/ajai-seth-01kn027400|access-date= 13 November 2025|website= The Secretariat|language=en}}</ref>) is a retired 1987 batch [[Indian Administrative Service|IAS officer]] from [[Karnataka]] cadre who is serving as the [[Chairman|Chairman of]] [[Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority]] since September 2025. He previously served in other roles within the [[Ministry of Finance (India)|Finance Ministry of India]] such as [[Finance Secretary of India|Finance Secretary]] and [[Secretary to the Government of India|Economic Affairs Secretary]].<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite web|date = 24 July 2025|title = Govt appoints former Finance Secretary Ajay Seth as IRDAI chief|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/business/former-finance-secretary-ajay-seth-set-to-become-new-irdai-chairman-10146651/|website=[[The Indian Express]]}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Ajay Seth was born on 30 June 1965 in [[India]].
He completed his [[Bachelor of Technology|B.Tech]] degree in [[mechanical engineering]]
from
[[IIT Roorkee]] and his [[Master in Business Administration|MBA]] degree from [[Ateneo de Manila University]] in [[Philippines]].<ref>{{Cite web |date= 24 March 2025 |title= Budget 2025: Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth's educational qualification – Key points to know|url= https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/budget-2025-economic-affairs-secretary-ajay-seth-s-educational-qualification-key-points-to-know/ar-AA1ydALR|access-date= 13 November 2025|website= ET Now |language=en}}</ref>

==Civil Service career==
Seth has worked in various positions in the [[Government of Karnataka]] as [[Principal Secretary (India)|Principal Secretary]] of Infrastructure Development, Urban Development and Planning department in [[Government of Karnataka]].<ref>{{Cite web |date= 24 March 2025|title= Ajay Seth appointed new Finance Secretary of India All you need to know about him |url=https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/ajay-seth-appointed-new-finance-secretary-of-india-all-you-need-to-know-about-him-2025-03-24-982123 |access-date= 13 November 2025|website= [[India TV]]}}</ref>

Between 2000 and 2004 Seth was the Deputy Secretary in [[Ministry of Finance (India)#Department of Expenditure|Department of Expenditure]] and in [[Ministry of Finance (India)#Department of Economic Affairs|Department of Economic Affairs]] in [[Ministry of Finance (India)|Ministry of Finance]] [[Government of India]]. From 2004 to 2008 he was an advisor to the executive director at [[Asian Development Bank]].<ref>{{Cite web |date= 16 April 2021|title=Senior IAS officer Ajay Seth takes over as new Economic Affairs Secretary |url= https://indianexpress.com/article/business/economy/ajay-seth-takes-over-as-new-economic-affairs-secretary-7276192/?utm_source=chatgpt.com|access-date=13 November 2025|website= [[The Indian Express]]}}</ref>

He then was the chief secretary in health and family welfare ministry and commissioner of Commercial Taxes in [[Government of Karnataka]]. As commissner of Commercial Tax department of Karnataka Government his tenure was known for transforming the Commercial Tax administration for which he got the [[Orders, decorations, and medals of India#Other national awards|Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Enterprises]] in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |date= 24 July 2025 |title= Ajay Seth appointed as IRDAI Chairman|url=https://bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com/articles/ajay-seth-takes-office-as-chairperson-of-irdai/122879195|access-date= 1 December 2025|website= [[The Economic Times|BFSI The Economic Times]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1= Noronha|first1= Gaurav|date= 16 April 2021|title= Ajay Seth takes over as Economic Affairs Secretary|url= https://m.economictimes.com/news/economy/policy/ajay-seth-takes-over-as-new-economic-affairs-secretary/articleshow/82098544.cms?utm_source=chatgpt.com|access-date= 13 November 2025|website= [[The Economic Times]] }}</ref>

In July 2018 he was appointed as the [[managing director]] of [[Namma Metro|Bangalore Metro Railway Corporation Ltd]] where he worked until April 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |date= 16 April 2021 |title= Bangalore metro gets new MD|url= https://trafficinfratech.com/bmrcl-gets-new-md/|access-date= 13 November 2025|website= Traffic Infra Tech}}</ref>

In April 2021, the Government of India appointed Ajay Seth as the [[Secretary to the Government of India|Economic Affairs Secretary of India]], his return to Central Government after a gap of 13 years.<ref>{{Cite web |date= 21 April 2021|title= Ajay Seth takes over as the New Economic Affairs Secretary|url=https://government.economictimes.indiatimes.com/amp/news/governance/ajay-seth-takes-over-as-new-economic-affairs-secretary/82102338 |access-date= 13 November 2025|website= [[The Economic Times|The Economic Times Government]]}}</ref>

In March 2025, the Government appointed Seth as the new [[Finance Secretary of India]] after the departure of [[Tuhin Kanta Pandey]] to take up the role as Chairman of [[SEBI]].<ref>{{Cite web |date= 24 March 2025|title= Senior most Officer is now the Finance Secretary|url= https://thesecretariat.in/article/senior-most-finmin-officer-ajay-seth-is-now-finance-secretary |access-date= 13 November 2025|website= Fortune India}}</ref>

After stepping down from both of his previous posts, Ajay Seth took over the office as the chairman of the [[Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority]] for a period of 3 years, starting on 1 September 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 July 2025 |title= India appoints Ajay Seth as the Insurance regulator chair order shows|url= https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-appoints-ajay-seth-insurance-regulators-chair-order-shows-2025-07-24/|access-date= 13 November 2025|website= [[Reuters]]}}</ref>

== References ==

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seth, Ajay}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1965 births]]
[[Category:Indian Administrative Service officers]]
[[Category:IIT Roorkee alumni]]
[[Category:Ateneo de Manila University alumni]]
[[Category:Indian Institutes of Technology alumni]]

Ajay Seth - Revision history

DenicePitcairn at 11:46, 6 April 2026