Eminent economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia was on Wednesday appointed Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.
Ahluwalia, who was part of the team under then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh that started reform process in 1991, is presently with the International Monetary Fund, a post which he is expected to relinquish next month.
The new Planning Commission Deputy Chairman was in New Delhi recently en route to Beijing.
He had a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Apart from serving as Economic Affairs Secretary and Finance Secretary under both Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram, Ahluwalia has also served as member of Planning Commission in the rank of minister of state.
The post of Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission is of Cabinet rank. The chairman of the commission is the prime minister.
After his meeting with finance minister on June 12, Ahluwalia had said: "There is a lot of goodwill for both the prime minister and the finance minister. They were part of the original reform team."