The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointed the Secretary of the Ministry of Defense as the Secretary of the Department of Defense. Ajay Kumar, Secretary of Defense Department, has approved the appointment of Ministry of Defense on completion of the tenure of the current Secretary, Sanjay Mitra.
According to an order issued by the Ministry of Defense, Defense Secretary Sanjay Mitra was given a three-month extension in service in the month of May 2019. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension of Mitra till August 23, 2019, after which Dr. Ajay Kumar will assume the new role.
Kumar has held various positions in both the Government of India and the Government of Kerala. He has spent three decades of his service with the Kerala State Government where he has headed three different departments.
Kumar was appointed as the Union Defense Production Secretary by the Appointments Committee of the Prime Minister of the Cabinet in November 2017, he assumed office on 1 December 2017.
Currently, as the Secretary of Defense Production of India, Ajay Kumar Ships, R&D, takes great interest in innovation in India and building an ecosystem to help build Indian firms in the global defense market. His work is a major boost to the Make in India initiative to make India self-reliant by 2025 in many weapon systems.
