Centre appoints Suman K Bery as Niti Aayog vice chairman

The central government on Friday appointed Suman K Bery as vice-chairman of the Niti Aayog as Rajiv Kumar stepped down from the post. Bery will take over as the Niti Aayog VC with effect from May 1, according to an order from the the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

Rajiv Kumar, an eminent economist, had been serving since 2017 when the former VC Arvind Panagariya returned back to academics. Kumar will be in office till April 30, according to the official order from the ministry.

During his tenure at Niti Aayog, Kumar played a key policy role in various sectors like micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) funding, asset monetisation, electric vehicles and battery. Prior to joining the government, Kumar was senior fellow at Centre for Policy Research.

Suman K Bery, meanwhile, has served as member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, and Director-General, National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

He has also served as a member of the Statistical Commission and the Reserve Bank of India's Technical Advisory Committee on Monetary Policy.