Giridhar Aramane takes over as new Defence Secretary

New Delhi [India], November 1 (ANI): Giridhar Aramane, a 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, assumed the office of Defence Secretary on Tuesday.
Before taking charge, Aramane laid a wreath at National War Memorial and paid homage to the fallen heroes. He saluted the bravehearts who sacrificed their lives while protecting the nation.

"We draw inspiration from these bravehearts and promise to work towards fulfilling their dream of making India a safe and prosperous country," he said during his visit to the National War Memorial.

In his 32 years of experience in IAS, the new Defence Secretary has held various important portfolios in the Central Government as well as the Andhra Pradesh government. Prior to his current assignment, Aramane was Secretary, of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Earlier, he was an Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat. Apart from Cabinet Secretariat, he also looked after Exploration Division in the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and was Executive Director in charge of inspections in the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority.

In the Andhra Pradesh Government, he served as Principal Secretary in the Urban Development Department; Managing Director of AP State Finance Corporation and Secretary (the Finance Department). He also held the post of the Collector & DM of the Chittoor and Khammam districts.

Aramane has done his B Tech in Civil Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad and MTech from IIT, Madras. He is MA (Economics) from Kakatiya University, Warangal.
He will take over the top post after Ajay Kumar retired at the end of the previous month (ANI)