Rajiv Kumar tipped to be next Ficci Secy Gen

Senior economist Dr Rajiv Kumar is tipped to be the next secretary general of industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), after Amit Mitra has resigned to pursue a political career in West Bengal.

Ficci said it will announce the name next week after its committee comprising industrialists Harsh Mariwala, Rajan Bharti Mittal, Y.K. Modi and Harshpati Singhania meets on Monday. Kumar joined Ficci as the director general in September 2010 as the second in command after Mitra.

An alumnus of Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Rajiv Kumar completed his PhD from the Lucknow University and went on to do a D.Phil from Oxford University. Before joining Ficci, Kumar was director at economic thinktank Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

Kumar has assumed many leading roles in his long and diverse career. After teaching at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) during 1987-89 he worked for the government from 1989 to 1995 - first in the bureau of industrial costs and prices, ministry of industry, and then as an economic adviser in the department of economic affairs, ministry of finance.

In 1995 Kumar joined the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila and held several senior positions during his ten-year term. In 2004, he joined the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as chief economist and went on to become a member of the National Security Advisory Board for 2006-08. He has also been a member of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

Kumar is also a non-executive member of the central board of directors of the State Bank of India (SBI), a member of the G-20 advisory group, a member of the India Brand Equity Foundation's (IBEF) board of trustees, and is on the board of directors of the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF).