Neeraj Mittal
{{short description|Indian civil servant}}
{{Paid contributions|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| office = Secretary of Department of Telecommunications, Government of India
| name = Dr. Neeraj Mittal
| successor2 = Pooja Kulkarni IAS
| successor3 = Rajeev Topno
| office3 = Senior Adviser at World Bank Group
| occupation = IAS Officer
| alma_mater = Ohio State University,
Cranfield University,
IIT Kanpur
| birth_place = Uttar Pradesh, India
| office1 = Principal Secretary of Information Technology, Government of Tamil Nadu
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1967|12|17}}
| nationality = Indian
| predecessor = K Rajaraman IAS
| predecessor1 = Hans Raj Verma IAS
| image = Dr Neeraj Mittal IAS.jpg
| office2 = Managing Director of Guidance Tamil Nadu
| profession = Civil Servant
| 1blankname1 = Chief Minister
| 1namedata1 = M. K. Stalin
| 1blankname2 = Chief Minister
| 1namedata2 = M. K. Stalin
| 3namedata2 = Darez Ahamed
| 3blankname2 = Executive Director
| 2namedata1 = Mano Thangaraj
| 2blankname1 = IT Minister
| 2namedata2 = Thangam Thennarasu
| 2blankname2 = Industries Minister
| term4 = 22 December 2010 - 4 June 2015
| 1namedata4 = Marketing
| 1blankname4 = Division
| primeminister4 = Manmohan Singh,
Narendra Modi
| term1 = 14 May 2021 - 05 September 2023
| term = 06 September 2023
| term3 = 8 June 2015 - 1 June 2018
| term2 = 1 May 2019 - 3 July 2021
| office4 = Joint Secretary at Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
| president3 = Jim Yong Kim
}}
Neeraj Mittal (born 17 December 1967, Tamil: நீரஜ் மித்தல்) is an Indian civil servant of Tamil Nadu cadre currently serving as the Secretary of Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Government of India.{{Cite news |last=Rathee |first=Kiran |date=2023-09-07 |title=Neeraj Mittal takes charge as DoT secretary |work=The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/telecom/telecom-news/neeraj-mittal-takes-charge-as-dot-secretary/articleshow/103426542.cms?from=mdr |access-date=2023-10-12 |issn=0013-0389}} He has previously served as Principal Secretary of Information Technology, Government of Tamil Nadu and as the Managing Director & CEO of Guidance Tamil Nadu.{{Cite web|date=2019-05-13|title=Chennai: Senior bureaucrat moves into pivotal post|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/130519/chennai-senior-bureaucrat-moves-into-pivotal-post.html|access-date=2020-11-30|website=Deccan Chronicle|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=New V-C for TN Guidance Bureau|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/new-v-c-for-tn-guidance-bureau/article27109244.ece|access-date=2020-11-30|website=@businessline|date=12 May 2019 |language=en}} Prior to his brief stint as Senior Advisor at World Bank Group,{{Cite web|date=2015-05-06|title=Neeraj Mittal appointed Senior Adviser to World Bank ED|url=https://www.tkbsen.in/2015/05/neeraj-mittal-appointed-senior-adviser-to-world-bank-ed/|access-date=2020-11-30|website=The Sen Times|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Tyagi|first=Anil|title=Dr Neeraj Mittal: Senior Advisor to ED, World Bank {{!}} Indian Buzz|url=http://www.indianbuzz.com/dr-neeraj-mittal-senior-advisor-to-ed-world-bank/|access-date=2020-11-30|language=en-us}} he served as Joint Secretary of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Education
Mittal is an electrical engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur, holds an MBA degree from Cranfield University, UK and PhD in Economics/MIS from Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University, USA, and has several publications to his credit.{{Cite web|title=Dr. Neeraj Mittal IAS Biography|url=https://supremo.nic.in/ERSheetHtml.aspx?OffIDErhtml=15392|access-date=2020-11-30|website=supremo.nic.in}}{{Cite journal|title=Investments in Information Technology: Indirect Eects and Information Technology Intensity|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238072273|journal=ResearchGate}}{{Cite journal|title=Research Note —Investments in Information Technology: Indirect Effects and Information Technology Intensity|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220079697|journal=ResearchGate}}{{Cite journal|title=IT Productivity and Aggregation using Income Accounting|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238072273|journal=ResearchGate}}{{Cite journal|title=Research Commentary —Using Income Accounting as the Theoretical Basis for Measuring IT Productivity|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279944300|journal=ResearchGate}}{{Cite journal|title=Value creation and the impact of policy interventions: Indian LPG supply chain case study|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322370955|journal=ResearchGate}}{{Cite journal|title=Fuel Subsidy Reform in Developing Countries: Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG Cooking Gas Subsidy in India|url=https://www.cgdev.org/sites/default/files/fuel-subsidy-reform-developing-countries-india.pdf|journal=Center for Global Development, World Bank Group}}
Career
During his IAS career Mittal has served in various key capacities for both the Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu. He has extensive experience in policy formulation and execution in e-Governance, Transport, Industrial promotion, Petroleum & Natural gas, Commerce & Industry, and Telecommunications and IT. He had served senior positions such as Director of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Director of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Commissioner of Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency.
Mittal served as a Senior Advisor to Executive Director of World Bank Group. He represented countries like India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan at the board of the World Bank. He was an active part of corporate governance, voice reform, project approvals and policy formulation of IBRD, IDA, IFC, and MIGA.{{Cite web|title=Mittal leaves ministry for World Bank|url=http://www.petrowatch.com/synopsis.php?artId=14247&w=1|access-date=2020-12-21|website=PETROWATCH|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=2015-05-06|title=Neeraj Mittal appointed Senior Adviser to World Bank ED|url=https://www.tkbsen.in/2015/05/neeraj-mittal-appointed-senior-adviser-to-world-bank-ed/|access-date=2020-12-21|website=The Sen Times|language=en-US}}
From 2018 to 2019, Mittal was an Adjunct Faculty at School of Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University & taught “Managing change in a disruptive world” at Heinz School of Public Policy. He has also done extensive research on public policy issues at Center for Global Development, Washington DC during this period.
He was previously MD & CEO of Guidance Tamil Nadu.{{Cite web|title=Our Team - Guidance Tamil Nadu|url=https://investingintamilnadu.com/ourteam|access-date=2020-11-30|website=investingintamilnadu.com}}{{Cite web|title=Board Of Directors – TIDCO|url=http://tidco.com/board-of-directors/|access-date=2020-11-30|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Entire government-to-business interface will become faceless and paperless by mid next year: Neeraj Mittal|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/entire-government-to-business-interface-will-become-faceless-and-paperless-by-mid-next-year-neeraj-mittal/article32583845.ece|access-date=2020-11-30|website=@businessline|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Guidance Tamil Nadu Bureau rolls out new services under single window portal {{!}} Chennai News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/guidance-tamil-nadu-bureau-rolls-out-new-services-under-single-window-portal/articleshow/79320172.cms|access-date=2020-11-30|website=The Times of India|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=SICCI, Guidance TN to hold 3-day conclave from Oct 29|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/sicci-guidance-tn-to-hold-3day-conclave-from-oct-29/1955917|access-date=2020-11-30|website=www.outlookindia.com/}}
He was a member of CDOT (Center for Development of Telematics) from 1989 to 1991.
Achievements
Mittal took initiatives and his recent engagements include Project Arrow in Department of Post, e-Biz project in Department of Commerce, world’s largest Cash Transfer Program in LPG in India (PaHaL){{Cite journal|title=LPG Subsidy Reform in India {{!}} Put the right systems in place first|url=http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/441121563519432464/pdf/LPG-Subsidy-Reform-in-India-Put-the-Right-Systems-in-Place-First.pdf|journal=World Bank Group}}{{Cite web|title=Story of the World's Largest Cash Transfer Program – PAHAL - Student Affairs|url=https://heinz.campusgroups.com/HeinzAffairs/rsvp_boot?id=360427|access-date=2020-12-02|website=heinz.campusgroups.com}} and GiveItUp in Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas which leverage technology to simplify processes, improve efficiency, convenience, participation and transparency in Governance. One of his initiative, Project Lakshya, transparency portal that allowed real time visibility of 3 million LPG deliveries per day to LPG consumers received National E-Governance Award.{{Cite news|title=Petroleum Ministry conferred National E-governance Award|work=The Economic Times|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/petroleum-ministry-conferred-national-e-governance-award/articleshow/27683600.cms|access-date=2020-12-21}}{{Cite web|date=2014-06-11|title=Dr Neeraj Mittal - Hi-tech Check on LPG Pilferage|url=https://egov.eletsonline.com/2014/06/hi-tech-check-on-lpg-pilferage/|access-date=2020-12-21|website=eGov Magazine|language=en-GB}}{{Cite web|title=Case Study - Project Lakshya|url=https://dokumen.tips/documents/case-study-project-lakshya.html|access-date=2020-12-21|website=dokumen.tips|language=en}}
Biz Buddy is such an initiative realized by Mittal. It is an industry help desk portal with three primary objectives: Streamlined redressal mechanism for timely resolution of industrial investor’s unsolved issues, Tracking and monitoring of investor issues in a real time manner and Improving Tamil Nadu's investment climate by enhancing the aftercare services provided to industrial investors.{{Cite news|last=Narasimhan|first=T. E.|date=2020-08-28|title=Biz Buddy: Tamil Nadu's faceless grievance redress mechanism for industries|work=Business Standard India|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/biz-buddy-tamil-nadu-s-faceless-grievance-redress-mechanism-for-industries-120082800189_1.html|access-date=2020-12-02}}{{Cite web|title=Soon, 224 govt services for businesses just a click away!|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2020/nov/21/soon-224-govt-services-for-businesses-just-a-click-away-2226064.html|access-date=2020-12-02|website=The New Indian Express}}