Rahul Khullar is new TRAI chairman

Dr Rahul Khullar, former Commerce Secretary is appointed as the new chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India with effect from May 14th. He replaces JS Sarma and will serve TRAI for next three years.

JS Sarma retired on May 13th 2012; he faced fierce opposition for the proposal of TRAI's recommendations on 2G spectrum auction. Telecm operators oppose the recommendations as the new pricing of spectrum will lead to doubling of prices for consumers.

Khullar, a 1975 batch IAS of Delhi Cadre, was a personal secretary to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh between 1991 to 1993 when he was the Finance Minister in the Narasimha Rao government. From 1985 to 1990 he served as a director at Prime Minister office.

He held the responsibility of Development Commissioner, Principal Secretary (Planning), and Commissioner, Sales Tax, in the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi from January 2001 to May 2004. In earlier stints, he served in various international organisations including Asian Development Bank, Manila as a professional economist from 1993 to 2000 and as senior economist in the strategy and policy office of the bank from 1999 to 2000.