S Krishnan appointed as new MeitY secretary

The government has appointed 1989 batch Indian Administrative Services officer S Krishnan as the new secretary for the electronics and information technology ministry (MeitY). Krishnan takes charge from Alkesh Kumar Sharma, who retired on August 31 this year.

Krishnan has, over the last 32 years, held various roles, including the finance secretary for the state of Tamil Nadu, and the chief executive officer of the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Board.

He currently serves as the additional chief secretary to the government of Tamil Nadu.


During his tenure at MeitY, Krishnan is likely to oversee the next phase of the implementation of the country’s ambitious semiconductor mission, which aims to foster a homegrown chip and supporting component ecosystem.

He will also be at the forefront of the rollout of the recently enacted Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 implementation guidelines along with the Digital India Bill, which will overhaul the IT Act, 2000.

The outgoing secretary Sharma, a Kerala cadre IAS officer, who had earlier served as the additional chief secretary-industries of the Kerala govt from May 2020 to April 2021, and the managing director of Kochi Metro Rail as well as CEO of Cochin Smart City Mission September 2019 to April 2021, oversaw the first phase of the implementation of the India Semiconductor Mission and the passing of the DPDP Bill.