Shri R. Chandrashekhar

Secretary, Department of Telecommunications

Mr. Chandrashekhar is currently Chairman of the Telecom Commission and Secretary in the Department of Telecommunication in the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Government of India. He is responsible for all matters relating to the Telecom sector. In addition, currently he is also the Secretary in the Department of Information Technology.

He joined the Government of India in 1975 as a member of the Indian Administrative Service, the country's premier civil service. Ever since, he has held a wide variety of key assignments many of them relating to the ICT sector, both in the Government of India and the State Government of Andhra Pradesh.

He is currently responsible for all aspects of policy formulation for the telecom sector in the country as well as several aspects of regulation. Currently he is responsible for driving several key policies and strategies covering licensing, spectrum management, National Broadband Plan, Convergence, Manufacturing, Investment, security, R&D and the National Telecom Policy 2011.

As the Secretary of the Department of Information Technology, he is currently steering the formulation of national policies for the IT sector and for promoting Electronic System Design and Manufacturing and R&D in the Electronics and IT sector. He is also responsible for overseeing implementation of a number of major national initiatives in the sector including the National e-Governance Plan, which he played a key role in designing and in formulating the Electronic Service Delivery Act.

Earlier, he established the first Department of Information Technology in the country in the state of Andhra Pradesh and was Secretary of the Department from June, 1997 to December, 1999. The policies and strategies he formulated catapulted the state to the forefront of the country in the sector and became a role model for several states and countries.
Chandrashekhar has extensive experience of formulating and implementing policies, strategies and action plans to foster the growth of the IT industry covering the entire enabling eco-system including infrastructure, Human Resource Development, e-governance and establishing Public Private Partnerships. He has a deep understanding of the issues and problems related to ICT project implementation in Government. He has rich firsthand experience in pivotal positions of the processes of liberalization, privatization and globalization both at the state and central levels.
Mr. Chandrashekhar received a M.Sc. degree in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and a M.S. degree in Computer Science from the Pennsylvania State University, USA. He was conferred the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2007-08. He has been conferred several awards including Data Quest Path Breaker of the Year Award in 2005 and Distinguished Alumnus award of IIT-Mumbai in 2010.