The government on Friday appointed Suman K Bery as Niti Aayog’s deputy chair following the abrupt resignation of Rajiv Kumar. Berry will take office from May 1, 2022, as Kumar’s term ends on April 30, an official order said.
Prominent economist Kumar took over as deputy chairman of Niti Aayog in August 2017, before VC Arvind Panagariya quit the government think tank to return to academia.

He has played a crucial role in Niti Aayog’s policy development with a focus on agriculture, asset monetisation, divestment, ideal area schemes, and electric vehicles. Kumar holds a PhD in Economics from Oxford University and a PhD from Lucknow University. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Center for Policy Research (CPR).

Bery was previously Director General (CEO) of the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in New Delhi. He is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Committee, the Statistics Committee, and the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Technical Advisory Committee.