Dr D J Pandian appointed to lead NDB’s India Regional Office in Gift City

Shanghai-headquartered New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries has appointed former bureaucrat Dr D J Pandian as the Director-General of its India Regional Office in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), the bank announced on Tuesday. Pandian earlier served as the Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of the Beijing-based Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in which India is the 2nd largest shareholder after China.

During his tenure at the AIIB, he was instrumental in securing USD 6.7 billion in funding for 28 projects in India, stated to be the highest project finance extended by the bank. A retired IAS officer, Pandian had also served as Chief Secretary of Gujarat.  The announcement of Pandian’s appointment comes as China, which is the chair of this year’s BRICS, is set to host the summit of the five-member bloc via video link on June 23-24 in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to take part.