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List Of State & Central Government Employees Of India Who Were Connected With Ambani & Adani During Their Tenure And Now After Retirement Are Working In Companies Of Ambani & Adani
The list includes retirement, voluntary retirement and other departures from government service. Independent directorships are board appointments, not necessarily salaried employment. “Current” below means listed in the corporate website or latest disclosure checked on 25 September 2026.
These records establish corporate appointments after public service. They do not, by themselves, establish that the individuals worked with or favoured these companies while holding government office.
For the Adani group, the following appointments are documented:
| Name | Previous central/state government position | Adani company, appointment and latest status |
|---|---|---|
| P. K. Pujari | Gujarat-cadre IAS; Union Power Secretary; subsequently Chairman, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. Superannuated in 2017; CERC tenure ended in 2022. | Current independent director, Adani Ports and SEZ, appointed 8 August 2024. adaniports.com |
| M. V. Bhanumathi | IRS; Director General of Income Tax—Investigation, Mumbai. Retired May 2022. | Current independent director, Adani Ports and SEZ, appointed 28 February 2024. adaniports.com |
| Vijaylaxmi Joshi | Gujarat-cadre IAS; Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj; senior Commerce Ministry official; headed the Swachh Bharat programme. | Current independent director, Adani Enterprises. Her corporate biography documents both central and Gujarat government service. Independent and Non-Executive Director |
| Raminder Singh Gujral | Former Union Finance Secretary, Revenue Secretary, Expenditure Secretary and NHAI Chairman. Retired 2013. | Current independent director, Adani Green Energy. Also holds Jio directorships, making him a documented connection to both groups. Independent and Non-Executive Director |
| Neera Saggi | Former IAS officer with 28 years of government service, including responsibilities concerning ports, SEZs, export promotion and administration. | Current independent director, Adani Green Energy. Independent and Non-Executive Director of AGEL |
| Chandra Iyengar | Maharashtra-cadre IAS; Additional Chief Secretary, Home; subsequently Chairperson, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission. | Current independent director, Adani Energy Solutions, appointed 31 May 2025. Adani Transmission |
| K. Jairaj | Karnataka-cadre IAS; Additional Chief Secretary, Energy; Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister; senior positions in Karnataka power and transport bodies. | Current independent director, Adani Total Gas. Previously served on Adani Energy Solutions’ board from 17 June 2015 to 30 June 2025. adanigas.com |
| Gauri Trivedi | Former Karnataka government officer; Revenue Secretary, Secretary to the Governor and Managing Director, HESCOM, among other positions. | Current independent director, Adani Total Gas. Her case involves an early departure from government service; it should not automatically be described as normal retirement. Adani Total Gas |
| Sangeeta Singh | Former CBDT Member and Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax; also held additional charge as CBDT Chairperson in 2022. | Current independent director, Adani Power. Independent and Non-Executive Director |
| Manmohan Srivastava | Retired IAS officer; Gujarat Additional Chief Secretary, Finance; Principal Secretary, Energy and Petrochemicals; Commercial Tax Commissioner. | Independent director, Adani Power, appointed 31 May 2025, for a term ending 30 May 2028. nsearchives.nseindia.com |
| U. K. Sinha — Upendra Kumar Sinha | Former IAS officer; Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance; SEBI Chairman, 2011–2017. | Current independent director and Chairperson, NDTV, since 27 March 2023; reappointed in 2025. NDTV Annual Report 2025-26 |
| Dinesh Kumar Mittal | UP-cadre IAS; Secretary, Department of Financial Services; Secretary, Corporate Affairs; Additional Secretary, Commerce. | Current independent director, NDTV. Reappointed for 27 June 2025–26 June 2028. nsearchives.nseindia.com |
| Maheswar Sahu | Former Gujarat-cadre IAS officer and Additional Chief Secretary. | Independent director, Ambuja Cements, appointed 16 September 2022, documented in its corporate governance report. connect.adani.com |
| Praveen Garg | Former Madhya Pradesh-cadre IAS officer; Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; other central and state assignments. | Independent director, Ambuja Cements, appointed 1 April 2025, for a term ending 31 March 2028. ambujacement.com |
| Niraj Bansal | Former IRS officer and Income Tax Commissioner; Deputy Chairman/Chairman-in-charge, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. Took voluntary retirement. | Joined Adani in October 2022; appointed CEO–Ports, Adani Ports and SEZ, effective 1 June 2026. This is the Ports business position; the overall company CEO is a separate role. Letter14 |
| Aman Kumar Singh | Former IRS officer and senior Chhattisgarh government official, including Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister. Left government service before joining the group. | Current President and Head, Strategy and Chairman’s Office, Adani Group. Joined in November 2022. adani.com |
| Deepak Amitabh | IRS, 1984 batch; central tax administration assignments; Financial Adviser to the Director General of Naval Project; later CMD, PTC India. | Adviser—Business Development, Adani Group. Confirmed in a corporate filing and subsequently identified in this capacity by Bihar’s Energy Department in 2026. tfciltd.com |
| Jayant Parimal | IAS, 1989 batch; served the Gujarat and Union governments until 2006. | Current CEO, Petrochemicals, Adani Group. Adani’s biography also records his earlier position as President, Reliance Industries. This is an early government-service departure rather than an ordinary retirement example. Adani Group |
For Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance/Jio companies, these former government officials are documented:
| Name | Previous government position | Corporate appointment and latest status |
|---|---|---|
| K. V. Chowdary | IRS; retired as CBDT Chairman; subsequently Revenue Department Adviser and Central Vigilance Commissioner, June 2015–June 2019. | Current independent director, Reliance Industries; also a director of Reliance Jio Infocomm and Reliance International. Joined the RIL board in 2019. RIL |
| Rajiv Mehrishi | Rajasthan-cadre IAS; Rajasthan Chief Secretary; Union Finance Secretary; Union Home Secretary; Comptroller and Auditor General of India. | Current independent director, Jio Financial Services and Reliance Retail Ventures. JFS appointment dates from 7 July 2023. Leadership at Tata Power |
| Raminder Singh Gujral | Former Union Finance Secretary and NHAI Chairman; retired in 2013. | Independent director, Jio Platforms and Reliance Jio Infocomm, documented in 2026 disclosures. His RIL parent-company board tenure ended on 11 June 2025. He also appears in the Adani table above. myjiostatic.cdn.jio.com |
| M. Balachandran | Retired Additional Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu; IPS. | Joined Reliance Industries in December 2006 as Chief Mentor; subsequently President/Mentor, Tamil Nadu. He was still identified as RIL President in December 2025 reporting. tnfindia.org |
Kapil Raj is an additional media-reported case: the former ED Joint Director and IRS officer left government service in July 2025 and was reported by Financial Express on 6 August 2025 to have joined Reliance Industries. His precise designation and continued employment in September 2026 were not independently verified; the report said Reliance declined to comment on individual appointments. The Financial Express
For Anil Ambani’s Reliance group, the following are currently listed:
| Name | Previous government position | Corporate appointment |
|---|---|---|
| Manjari Ashok Kacker | IRS, 1974 batch; former CBDT Member; Functional Director, Vigilance and Security, Air India. | Independent director, Reliance Infrastructure. rinfra.com |
| Virendra Singh Verma | Central Power Engineering Service; former Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency; Member and Chairman, CERC. | Independent director, Reliance Infrastructure; also listed on the boards of BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna. rinfra.com |
| Dr Thomas Mathew | Former senior civil servant; Additional Secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee; previously worked in the Finance and Defence ministries. | Independent director, Reliance Infrastructure. rinfra.com |
| R. Ashok / Ashok Ramaswamy | Retired Secretary-level Government of India official; subsequently Member, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. | Independent director, Reliance Power; also a director of Mumbai Metro One. reliancepower.co.in |
| Zohra Chatterji | Retired UP-cadre IAS; Union Textiles Secretary; Additional Secretary, Coal; senior UP government positions. | Independent director, Reliance Power; also listed with Rosa Power, Sasan Power, BSES Yamuna and BSES Rajdhani. reliancepower.co.in |
| Rajesh Kumar Dhingra | Indian Air Force officer for 21 years; voluntarily separated in 2007; also served on deputation in Defence Production. | President and CEO, Reliance Defence, associated since January 2015; also a non-executive director of Reliance Infrastructure. rinfra.com |
Former public-sector bank, insurance and PSU executives also belong in a broader public-sector list, although they should be distinguished from civil servants:
| Name | Former public-sector position | Subsequent corporate role |
|---|---|---|
| Arundhati Bhattacharya | Chairperson, State Bank of India, 2013–2017. | Current independent director, Reliance Industries; joined in 2018. RIL |
| Sanjiv Singh | Former Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation. | Joined Reliance in 2020. The FY2025–26 RIIL report identifies him as Group President—Group Manufacturing Services, RIL. riil.in |
| Shashi Shanker | Former Chairman and Managing Director, ONGC. | Current independent director, Adani Total Gas; first appointed 4 May 2022, reappointed from 4 May 2025. adanigas.com |
| Vijay Kumar Sharma | Chairman, Life Insurance Corporation of India; retired 31 December 2018. | Current independent director, Reliance Power, in the Anil Ambani group. reliancepower.co.in |
Some well-known names are historical appointments and should not be described as currently holding those positions:
| Name | Former government position | Documented corporate role and end date |
|---|---|---|
| G. K. Pillai | Former Union Home Secretary. | Independent director, Adani Ports and SEZ; tenure ended 8 August 2024. powercorridors.in |
| V. Subramanian | Former Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. | Independent director, Adani Enterprises; tenure ended 21 August 2026. Adani Enterprises Limited |
| Meera Shankar | Former Indian Ambassador to the United States and Germany; IFS. | Independent director, Adani Transmission/Adani Energy Solutions; tenure ended 30 June 2025. powercorridors.in |
| Dr Amiya Chandra | Indian Trade Service; former Development Commissioner, Kandla and Mundra SEZs; Additional DGFT. | Appointed independent director, Adani Energy Solutions, 31 May 2025; resigned 2 July 2025. BM outcome 27.05.2024- PB |
| K. R. Kaushik | Former Gujarat Director General of Police. | Joined Reliance Industries after retirement in 2008; Indian Express reported in 2016 that he had already left the company. |
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