Former Corporate Affairs Secretary Tapan Ray in line to be next IRDAI chairman

Former Corporate Affairs Secretary Tapan Ray is said to be in the race for the Insurance Regulatory and Development and Authority of India (IRDAI) chairman post, sources said. The insurance regulatory body’s chief post fell vacant on February 21 after TS Vijayan retired from the post.

Ray is a Gujarat cadre IAS officer who was also given the additional charge as interim economic affairs secretary after Shantikanta Das had retired. He is from the 1982 batch and an IIT alumnus. Further, he has also served as joint secretary in department of defence.

Also, he holds a a degree in public policy from Princeton University and another one in public administration from Syracuse University, USA

Sources close to the development said that he is being considered for the post. The government for the first time had said that they will also nominate eligible candidates for the IRDAI chairman post.

Sources also indicated that the government was open to having bureaucrats for the role.

The Finance Ministry had in November invited applications to fill up the post of IRDAI chairperson, after Vijayan's term got over in February.

As reported by Moneycontrol earlier, several senior insurance executives like G Srinivasan of New India, Sunita Sharma and Usha Sangwan of LIC are in the race for the post.

As per the eligibility criteria, the applicant shall not hold office beyond 65 years of age. However, the person would be eligible for reappointment and should have a minimum of 2 years of residual service on the date of vacancy or not more than 63 years of age on February 21, 2018.

While not all applicants may have five years of service left, they may be allowed to apply by the ministry. Sources also indicated that the government will also nominate senior IAS officials to apply for the post.

The applicant is required to have at least 30 years of work experience and should have served as secretary to Government or at equivalent level in other institutions.

The government has said that applicants from private sector can also apply for the post and should have worked as a CEO or equivalent of a large financial institution, the notification said.