A 1978-batch IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre, Sharma worked with Nandan Nilekani on the Aadhaar card project
Mansi Taneja | New Delhi July 27, 2015 Last Updated at 19:43 IST
According to sources, an announcement to this effect might come in a day or two.
The post felt vacant in mid-May when the earlier chairman Rahul Khullar had retired.
Sharma is set to retire in September as secretary for department of electronics and information technology. A 1978-batch IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre, he was a probable choice because of his familiarity with the telecom and information technology sector. Sharma had worked closely with Nandan Nilekani on the Aadhaar card project.
He was Director General and mission Director of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) where he was responsible for overall implementation of the government’s ambitious and challenging project.
Prior to this, Sharma has worked as Chief Secretary to the Jharkhand government. He has also worked in the Department of Economic Affairs and has dealt with bilateral and multilateral development agencies like World Bank, ADB. He was also in-charge of Financing of Infrastructure projects in the highways, ports, airports and telecom sectors.
He holds a Masters Degree in Mathematics from IIT, Kanpur and a Masters in Computer Science from the University of California (USA), according to his profile on the department of electronics and information technology.
The post assumes importance in the wake of recent debate over net neutrality. The telecom regulator had called for consultation paper on the issue but Khullar retired before the recommendations were made. TRAI also has to give its views on the next round of spectrum auctions.
Among the other candidates who were shortlisted for the post of TRAI chairman included Power Secretary P K Sinha, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Bimal Julka, Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher, former telecom secretary M F Farooqui, and former Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Subir Gokarn.