GANDHINAGAR : Mr D J Pandian, IAS, Chief Secretary, Government of Gujarat has been appointed as new Chairman of Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) recently according to the GMB press release.
Mr. D. J. Pandian is a Senior IAS Officer with 35 years of distinguished service in public administration including Corporate Governance. Initially, he served as Collector in different districts of Gujarat, leaving his personal stamp wherever he worked.
He also had a tenure with the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India as Director (External Commercial Borrowing) under the Ministry of Finance. Also he had an illustrious stint with World Bank in Washington DC as Advisor to the Executive Director.
As the Managing Director of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), Mr. Pandian spearheaded the expansion of the GSPC Group into the entire hydrocarbon value chain including development of extensive Gas Grid Network across various industrial segments of Gujarat. Today the City Gas Distribution arm of GSPC is India's biggest CGD Company.
He was instrumental in establishing Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU), a world class University in energy education and research.
While serving as Additional Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary, Energy & Petrochemicals Department, Government of Gujarat, he has accelerated the power sector development leading to the creation of Asia's biggest Solar Park at Charanka in Gujarat. He also held positions like Principal Secretary - Revenue, Additional Chief Secretary - Industries & Mines Department and has launched various policy reforms.
He has meticulously planned and executed the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015. The summit created history as it transformed itself into a Global networking platform bringing together the who's who of the world leaders.
Mr. Pandian is currently heading the Gujarat Administration as Chief Secretary. That means, he guides and monitors the implementation of the policies and programmes of various Departments. He has turned into gold whatever he touched, and he did not leave much untouched.
The Port sector in Gujarat has recently initiated visionary projects like Maritime University, Maritime cluster etc. It's a good omen that the person with the track record of establishing a world class university like the PDPU should be the administrative head of the state when the maritime university is getting launched. With Mr. Pandian as the Chairman of the Gujarat Maritime Board, the state Port sector will not settle for anything less than the very best.
