Hasmukh Adhia, IAS (born 3November 1958) is an Indian Banker and a civil servant. He is one of the key persons behind the architecture and roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax & Demonetization scheme announced in 2016. He is an

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

(IAS) officer of the 1981

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

cadre batch who served as

Finance Secretary The Finance Secretary () is the administrative head of the Ministry of Finance. This post is held by senior IAS officer of the rank of Secretary to Government of India. T. V. Somanathan is the incumbent Finance Secretary. As a Secretary to Go ...

and

Revenue Secretary Secretary to the Government of India, often abbreviated as Secretary, GoI, or simply as Secretary, is a post and a rank under the Central Staffing Scheme of the Government of India. The authority for the creation of this post solely rests with ...

of State. He previously served in several capacities for the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and

governments, including as

Financial Services Secretary The position of City Minister is a United Kingdom Government mid-level ministerial post in HM Treasury. The minister is responsible for the British financial services sector which is commonly known as ' the City'. The post is normally held in co ...

. He is the present Non-Executive Chairman of

Bank of Baroda Bank of Baroda (BOB or BoB) is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Vadodara, Gujarat. It is the second largest public sector bank in India after State Bank of India, with 132 million customers, a total business of US$218 billion, a ...

. A week after the government nominated him chairman of state-owned Bank of Baroda, he was appointed as the

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Central University of Gujarat Central University of Gujarat is a public central university in Gandhinagar, Gujarat offering courses at undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels. The university includes 16 schools, 14 academic departments, and 2 other special centres ...

Education

Hasmukh Adhia is a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

(PhD) in

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

from the Swami Vivekanand Yoga University in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, and is a gold medallist in oneyear post graduate programme in

public management Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

and Policy for Government and Non Government Executives ( PGP-PMP) from

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM Bangalore or IIMB) is a public business school and Institute of National Importance located in Bangalore, India. Founded in 1973, it was the third IIM to be established, after IIM Calcutta and IIM ...

. His thesis for PhD was on "Impact of Yoga on Management". He also has

Master of Commerce Master of Commerce (MCom or M Comm; sometimes '' Magister Commercii'' as MagComm or Mag. comm.) is a postgraduate master's degree focusing on commerce-, accounting-, management- and economics-related subjects. Like the undergraduate Bachelor of Co ...

and Bachelor Commerce degrees from

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the postgraduate level. It is accredited B++ by N ...

Career

Adhia has served in various positions for both the

Government of Gujarat The Government of Gujarat, also known as Gujarat Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Gujarat and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive of the legislators appointed by the Governor of Gujarat, a judiciary ...

and the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

, like as

Additional chief secretary The Chief Secretary is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the state government. The Chief Secretary is the ''ex-officio'' head of the state Civil Services Board, the State Secretariat, the state cadre Indian Admin ...

(Finance),

Principal Secretary The Principal Secretary is a senior government official in various Commonwealth countries. * Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Pakistan * Principal Secretary to the President of Pakistan * Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Ind ...

(Education),

(Transport),

Chief Minister of Gujarat The Chief Minister of Gujarat is the chief executive of the government of the Indian state of Gujarat. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. The chief minister's term ...

, executive director of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam, managing director of the Gujarat Industrial Investment Corporation, and as the

district magistrate and collector A District Collector-cum-District Magistrate (also known as Deputy Commissioner in some states) is an All India Service officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre who is responsible for ''land revenue collection'', ''canal reven ...

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city in the Bhavnagar district of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a States of India, state of India. It was founded in 1723 by Gohil Koli, Bhavsinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (1703–1764). It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, whi ...

and

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

in the

Gujarat government The Government of Gujarat, also known as Gujarat Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Gujarat and its Districts of Gujarat, 33 districts. It consists of an executive branch, executive of the legislators appointed ...

; and as Union Revenue Secretary and Union Financial Services Secretary, in the

Indian government The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the Government, national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy lo ...

. Adhia was also a consultant to the

United Nations Industrial Development Organization The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (French: Organisation des Nations unies pour le développement industriel; French/Spanish acronym: ONUDI) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in e ...

Financial Services Secretary

Adhia was appointed as the Union Financial Services Secretary by the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

-headed

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appoints several top posts within the Government of India. The committee is composed of the Prime Minister of India (''ex-officio'' Chairman) and the Minister of Home Affairs. Originally the Minis ...

(ACC) in November 2014, he assumed office on 3November, and demitted it on 31August 2015, when he was appointed the Union Revenue Secretary.

Revenue Secretary

Adhia was appointed as the Union Revenue Secretary by the ACC in August 2015, he assumed office on 1September 2015. In September 2017, after the retirement of

Ashok Lavasa Ashok Lavasa ( IAST: ) (born 21 October 1957) is a retired 1980 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Haryana cadre and was one of the two Election Commissioners of India. He has also served as the Finance Secretary of India, Enviro ...

, Adhia was designated as the

, as he became the senior-most

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Eco ...

. Adhia retired from IAS and simultaneously demitted the offices of Finance Secretary and Revenue Secretary on 30November 2018; he was succeeded as Revenue Secretary by

Unique Identification Authority of India Aadhaar ( hi, आधार, ādhār, lit=base, foundation, bn, আধার) is a 12-digit unique identity number that can be obtained voluntarily by the citizens of India and resident foreign nationals who have spent over 182 days in twelve ...

's chief executive officer Ajay Bhushan Pandey, and as Finance Secretary by Expenditure Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha, as the senior-most secretary in the Ministry of Finance. Ahead of his retirement, Adhia was praised by

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley (28 December 1952 – 24 August 2019) was an Indian politician and attorney. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jaitley served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. Jait ...

, who called him "highly competent, disciplined, no-nonsense civil servant ..with impeccable integrity," and said that Adhia refused important post-retirement assignment from the government and instead intended to focus on spirituality and caring for his son. During his tenure as Revenue Secretary, Adhia was regarded as one of the most powerful bureaucrats in India.

Controversies

Adhia is considered one of the key persons behind the architecture and roll-out of the controversial Goods and Service Tax in India. He is also considered to be privy to another major controversial move of demonetisation of Rs500 and Rs.1000 Currency notes which forced the retirement of 86percent of cash in circulation in India on 8November 2016. He was also accused of diluting graft charges against congress leader like

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi ('' née'' Maino; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest serving president of the Indian National Congress, a social democratic political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independ ...

P.Chidambaram Palaniappan Chidambaram (born 16 September 1945), better known as P. Chidambaram, is an Indian politician and lawyer who currently serves as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. He served as the Chairman of the List of Indian parliamentary commit ...

. Hasmukh Adhia was accused of interfering and preventing promotion of Enforcement Directorate Joint Director Rajeshwar Singh. BJP Leader Subramaniam Swamy filed a petition in Supreme Court in favour of Rajeshwar Singh. Hasmukh Adhia was considered to be one of the key persons in bringing controversial LTCG tax for Stocks without any indexation benefits. This move was considered to be illogical and became largely unpopular in Indian Stock Market. This triggered Foreign Inverstors to pull out investment from Indian Stock Market and triggered a Market Crash on 2 February 2018, a day after the announcement was made. Hasmukh Adhia along with Indian Finance minister Arun Jaitley became highly unpopular after piling up taxes and cess on Indian Salaried Class instead of raising the tax slab. There was an outrage among salaried class when he was quoted saying "Why shouldn’t we tax a class that is investing in markets".

Books

* *

References

External links

*
Executive record sheet as maintained by the Department of Personnel and Training in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions of the Government of India
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adhia, Hasmukh Indian Administrative Service officers Gujarat University alumni Indian Institute of Management Bangalore alumni 1958 births Living people People from Rajkot district