Finance Secretary TK Pandey appointed as new SEBI chairman

The Odisha-cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer will replace Madhabi Puri Buch, who completes her three-year tenure on Friday (February 28). According to a government order issued late Thursday evening, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Pandey, IAS (OR:1987), Finance Secretary and Secretary, Department of Revenue, to the post of SEBI chairman.

Pandey's appointment is initially for three years from the day he assumes charge, the order said. The 1987-batch IAS officer is the senior-most officer in the ministry of finance handling the revenue department.

He is the longest-serving secretary in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), a department in the finance ministry that manages government equity in public sector companies, as well as the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE).

He assumed charge of the revenue department on January 9 after his predecessor, Sanjay Malhotra, moved to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as its governor. Pandey played a key role in the framing of the 2025-26 Budget, which gave tax reliefs totalling Rs 1 lakh crore to the middle class.

He was also involved in the drafting of the new Income Tax Bill, which seeks to replace the 64-year-old Income Tax Act of 1961. Pandey holds an MA in economics from Punjab University, Chandigarh, and an MBA from the University of Birmingham (UK). He has worked in various capacities in the government of Odisha and the government of India.