Sanjiv N. Sahai (born 14 January 1961) is a retired(IAS) of 1986 batch who served as Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Power from 1 November 2019 until 31 January 2021.[1]
Sanjiv N. Sahai was born in Bhagalpur, Bihar. He spent his childhood in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand where he attended Loyola School. He moved to New Delhi for his university education and studied history (Honours) from Hindu College, Delhi. He has a master's degree in public policy from Princeton University, where he focused on economic policy.
He has been a Robert McNamara fellow [2] at Princeton University, USA [3] and a recipient of Joint Japan World Bank Fellowship.
Sanjiv Sahai started his career with Tata Administrative Service and then went on to join the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1986.[4] Over the years he has served on a number of positions, including five years in the Indian Prime Minister's Office where he was closely associated, amongst others, with development of road and transport infrastructure. In 2004, he was also the chairman and MD of Delhi Transport Corporation, while serving as the Secretary-cum-Commissioner Transport for Delhi Government. Later in 2005, "he was appointed as the Chairman of the Chandigarh Housing Board by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs."[5]
In 2007 he was nominated by IDFC to "head DIMTS" [6] as its MD & CEO. Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) is an urban transport and infrastructure development company with equal equity from the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) and the IDFC Foundation[7] (a not-for-profit initiative of Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited).
In 2015, Sahai was posted as Finance Secretary in the Government of NCT of Delhi where he was instrumental in formulation of a detailed outcome budget as part of the restructuring governance. He led the team on formulation of budget which had the highest allocation for social sectors such as Education and Health and he played a crucial role in the ushering in of the GST in Delhi. He was also concurrently the Home Secretary which was marked by stand off between the Aam Aadmi Party Government and the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi over Delhi Police, Prosecution etc.
In May 2018, Sahai was posted as the Additional Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Power.[8]
On 1 November 2019, Sahai assumed charge as Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Power and served there till 31 January 2021.[9]
Post his retirement as Secretary, Sahai was appointed as the Director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.[10]