Mumbai: After the resignation of Niti Aayog’s first vice chairman Arvind Panagariya, noted economist Dr Rajiv Kumar was appointed the head of the government think tank on Saturday.

Dr Kumar is currently a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, a non-governmental think tank on public policy. He has also authored various books on India’s national security and its economy.

Dr Kumar will be reporting to Prime Minister Narendra modi, who is the Chairman of the Aayog.

He has had prior experience working for the government under the Ministry of Industries and Ministry of Finance. He has also served as the chief economist at the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). He has also been involved with the Asian Development Bank.

This development comes days after Panagariya said he will return to academia. His last day in office would be August 31.