Dr Ajay Kumar

Dr Ajay Kumar (UPSC Chairperson) Age, Biography, Family & Career | Guide2Sucess Home › Famous Personalities › Dr Ajay Kumar (UPSC Chairperson) Profession: IAS Officer & Civil Servant Hometown: Uttar Pradesh, India Age: 62 Years Dr Ajay Kumar (UPSC Chairperson) – Age, Education, Biography & Career Last Updated: April 2026  |  Category: Famous Personalities, Civil Services Dr Ajay Kumar is one of India’s most seasoned bureaucrats — a man who spent over three decades shaping national policy across defence, technology, and governance. A 1985-batch IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, he served as India’s 38th Defence Secretary before being appointed as the Chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in May 2025 by President Droupadi Murmu. His tenure as UPSC chief will run until October 2027, coinciding with the commission’s centenary year. Bio / Wiki Quick Bio Full Name Dr Ajay Kumar Profession Civil Servant (Retired IAS), UPSC Chairperson Known For Chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC); former 38th Defence Secretary of India Height (approx.) 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) Eye Colour Dark Brown Hair Colour Salt and Pepper Career Highlights Posts Held 2017 – 2019 Secretary, Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence 2019 – 2022 Defence Secretary of India (38th), Ministry of Defence May 2025 – Oct 2027 Chairperson, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Awards, Honours & Recognitions 2013 EFY – Electronics Leader of the Year 2019 Honorary Doctorate, Amity University, Noida 2019 Top 50 Effective Bureaucrats, Asia Post 2019 Distinguished Alumnus, IIT Kanpur 2021 Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering (FNAE) Personal Life Date of Birth 2 October 1962 (Tuesday) Age (as of 2025) 62 Years Birthplace Uttar Pradesh, India Zodiac Sign Libra Nationality Indian Hometown Uttar Pradesh, India IAS Batch 1985 (Kerala Cadre) Religion Hinduism Hobbies Reading, Writing Monthly Column “Off the Grid” in Business Standard Educational Qualifications Academic Background School Government Public School, Uttar Pradesh Graduation B.Tech in Electrical Engineering – IIT Kanpur Post-Graduation M.S. in Applied Economics (Development Economics) – University of Minnesota, USA Doctorate PhD in Business Administration – Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, USA Fellowship Graduate School Fellowship for two consecutive years at University of Minnesota Career Timeline 1985 – Joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Kerala Cadre. First posting as District Magistrate, Palakkad, Kerala. 1985–2000s (State Roles) – Served as Managing Director, Kerala State Co-operative Agricultural & Rural Development Bank; General Manager, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation; Managing Director, KELTRON (Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation). Early 2000s – Moved to the central government; worked under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). 2007–2010 – Principal Secretary, Information Technology Department, Government of Kerala. 2010–2014 – Joint Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and IT; also held additional charge as Director General, National Informatics Centre (NIC). 2012 – Framed India’s National Electronics Policy, giving a major push to indigenous electronics and mobile manufacturing. 2015–2017 – Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and IT. Instrumental in implementing Digital India, UPI, Aadhaar, myGov, and the Government e-Marketplace. 2017–2019 – Secretary (Defence Production), Ministry of Defence. Championed self-reliance in defence hardware under the AtmaNirbhar Bharat programme. 23 August 2019 – Appointed Defence Secretary of India — the top administrative position in the Ministry of Defence. 2019–2022 – As Defence Secretary, led landmark reforms: creation of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), launch of the Agnipath/Agniveer recruitment scheme, corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board, and commissioning of INS Vagsheer (Scorpene-class submarine). April 2022 – Launched INS Vagsheer, the sixth Scorpene-class submarine under Project-75, at Mazagon Dock, Mumbai. October 2022 – Retired from active government service after 37+ years. Post-retirement – Appointed advisor to the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF); joined as Board Director at Sify Technologies; became Distinguished Visiting Professor at IIT Kanpur (Departments of Management Sciences and Economic Sciences); Senior Fellow at Carnegie India. 2024 – Founded MGF-Kavachh, a deep-tech startup incubation venture focused on defence, space, and national security sectors. 15 May 2025 – Assumed office as Chairperson, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), appointed by President Droupadi Murmu. Took oath administered by Lt. Gen. Raj Shukla (Retd.), senior-most UPSC member. Some Lesser Known Facts About Dr Ajay Kumar Dr Ajay Kumar was born in a middle-class family in Uttar Pradesh and cleared the civil services examination in 1985 — launching a career that would span over 37 years across some of India’s most critical government departments. He is one of the very few IAS officers in India who holds a PhD from a foreign university. More impressively, he completed both his MS and PhD from the University of Minnesota in just three years — a feat for which he was awarded the Graduate School Fellowship twice in a row. Before sitting for the civil services exam, Ajay Kumar worked in various private sector roles in the United States, which gave him exposure to global technology and business management — something quite rare among IAS officers of his generation. His first posting after clearing the IAS was in Palakkad district, Kerala, where he served as District Magistrate. He remained associated with the Kerala cadre for much of his early career. At KELTRON (Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation), Kumar played a decisive role in turning around the organisation and modernising its operations at a time when state-run electronics firms were struggling to stay relevant. Kumar is credited with framing the National Electronics Policy (2012) — a foundational document that shaped India’s push toward domestic electronics manufacturing and eventually fed into the Make in India programme. He was a key figure behind several landmark Digital India projects, including the rollout of UPI, Aadhaar-based services, myGov, Jeevan Pramaan (digital life certificates for pensioners), and the Government e-Marketplace (GeM). As Defence Secretary, Ajay Kumar was part of the delegation that travelled to France with Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to receive India’s first Rafale fighter jet — a historic moment in Indian air defence. He oversaw the corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board — an institution over 200 years old employing roughly 80,000