Ajay Tyagi to head capital markets regulator Sebi, to take charge on March 1

Senior bureaucrat Ajay Tyagi was appointed as chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to succeed U K Sinha, whose extended tenure ends on March 1.Tyagi, a 1984 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre, is at present Additional Secretary (Investment) in the Department of Economic Affairs and handles capital markets, among others.The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved his appointment for a period not exceeding five years or till the age of 65 years, an order issued by Personnel Ministry said.[caption id="attachment_2800418" align="alignleft" width="380"] Sebi office. Reuters[/caption]58-year-old Tyagi, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, is a Post Graduate in Economics. He did Masters in Public Administration from Harvard and holds a Master in Technology (Computer Science) degree, as per his official resume. He holds a Bachelor degree in electronics also.He was Joint Secretary in Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change before joining Finance Ministry on November 1, 2014 as Additional Secretary.During his stint at the Centre, Tyagi has also worked in ministries of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Steel and Rural Development. He held various posts in Himachal Pradesh government including in power, revenue, finance and information technology.Tyagi, for a short while, was also on the board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).In the run-up to the appointment of the capital markets regulator, many senior bureaucrats, including Power Secretary P K Pujari were in contention.Incumbent Sinha, a 1976 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, had assumed office as Sebi chairman on February 18, 2011, when the previous UPA government was in power.He was later given a two-year extension. Days before the end of his tenure in February last year, he was given another extension till March 1, 2017.Sinha's over six-year tenure as the Sebi chief is the second-longest after D R Mehtas seven-year term from 1995 to 2002.