Ajay Seth is the Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. He belongs to the Indian Administrative Service, 1987 batch, Karnataka Cadre. He has 33 years of experience in the domains of public finance and social sector administration dealing with matters related to budget, tax policy, foreign investments, bilateral and multilateral financial cooperation, development financing, and public-private-partnerships. Apart from heading the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation, Mr Seth has held various positions in the Karnataka government including additional chief secretary of health and family welfare and commissioner of commercial taxes. He was also an adviser with the Asian Development Bank. He is a recipient of Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration in 2013, being a member of the team for “transformation of commercial tax administration in Karnataka”. Mr Seth holds B. Tech. in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA.