A K Sharma takes charge as MSME Secretary

Arvind Kumar Sharma on Friday assumed charge as Secretary in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry.

Prior to this appointment, Sharma was serving as Additional Secretary, Prime Minister's Office (PMO). He is a 1988 batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre.

Sharma's appointment as MSME Secretary comes at a time when the sector is facing a huge crisis owing to the coronavirus infection, with workers in millions of units staring at the prospect of job losses as the enterprises struggle for survival.

As MSME Secretary, he is expected to play a key role in revival of the sector.

"Starting the work on war footing, he held a held important meetings with senior officers to review the work of the Ministry and discussed pressing issues especially in the light of the impact of COVID -19 pandemic," an official statement said.

Sharma emphasised that the MSME sector is very crucial for the society and the economy. Laying out his priorities, Sharma observed that "after we have dealt with the urgent situation, we need to work on creating Global Champion companies from MSMEs".

Sharma has also worked in the government of Gujarat at various positions including field and policy level and has extensive experience of handling the portfolios of regulatory and developmental administration, disaster management, Corporate Management, industrial/investment promotion and infrastructure development.