Retired bureaucrats Hasmukh Adhia, SS Rathore appointed advisers to Gujarat CM

Adhia headed the task force to chart the Gujarat roadmap in making India a five-trillion dollar economy, the report for which was submitted to the Gujarat government May last.

A former bureaucrat from the 1981 batch of Gujarat cadre, Adhia was principal secretary to Narendra Modi when he was the chief minister of Gujarat.

Rathore, who was decorated with a Padma Shri in 2018, is currently the managing director of Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation Limited (GMRC), the special purpose vehicle for metro projects in the state.

The announcement of the two appointments was made by the Chief Minister’s Office in a press statement Tuesday, indicating the thrust of the second term of the Patel government being on finance, economics, education and infrastructure.

As per the statement, the two new posts have been created in the CMO and its tenure will be till that of the Chief Minister or till further orders.

This is not the first time that advisors to the CM have been appointed. Earlier, water resources expert BN Navalawala has served as adviser to the CM during Modi’s tenure, and retired Air Marshal RK Dhir has served as adviser on Defence and Aerospace during former CM Vijay Rupani’s tenure.

A retired Gujarat-cadre IAS officer, Adhia has performed his duties as finance and revenue secretary in the central government, when the Centre rolled out the Goods and Services Tax (GST). He retired from service in November 2018.
At present, Adhia is non-executive chairman of Bank of Baroda and Chancellor of Central University of Gujarat. He is also the vice-chairman of the boards of Pandit Deendayal Energy University and Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI) and a member of the Borad of Governors, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Adhia has a post-graduate degree in accountancy and is a gold medalist from the Indian Instiute of Management, Bangalore. He also has a doctorate in yoga from Swami Vivekanand Yog University, Bangalore.

Adhia was at the helm of affairs in the finance ministry during the implementation of Goods & Services Tax (GST) in India. He will advise the CM on matters related to finance, economic affairs, education, energy, renewable energy, investment, etc.

Rathore is a retired bureaucrat from Gujarat Engineering Services (GES). Having served the Roads & Buildings and Water Resources departments of Gujarat government, Rathore retired as additional chief secretary in 2014.

He also served the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) as managing director and chairman for five years. It was under Rathore as the Chairman and MD of SSNNL that the Statue of Unity project was completed. He has also been conferred with Padma Shri for his contribution to infrastructure development.

As per the release, Rathore is credited for introducing the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model of road development in Gujarat. He is known as the “highway and canal man”.

Rathore had headed Institute of Engineers, India, and Indian Road Congress in the past. He is also the vice-president of World Federation of Engineering Organisation.

Rathore will work as adviser to the CM on issues related to roads and buildings, civil aviation, metro rail project, railways, water resources, Narmada and Kalpasar project.

Retired Gujarat-cadre IAS officer K Kailashnathan is already functioning as Chief Principal Secretary to the CM in the state government. Kailashnathan recently got one-year extension in the post.