Abhay Karandikar, an engineer-educator known for shaping India’s telecom standards ecosystem and advancing rural broadband innovation, has been appointed a Full-Time Member of Niti Aayog as part of the government’s reconstitution of the premier policy body.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X that Niti Aayog had “emerged as a vital pillar in India’s policy-making architecture, fostering cooperative federalism, furthering reforms and boosting ‘Ease of Living’,” while wishing Karandikar and other appointees a productive tenure.
Karandikar currently serves as Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, a post he assumed on 01 October 2023. His transition into the Aayog marks the entry of a technocrat with deep experience in telecom engineering, standards development and academic leadership into the core of India’s long-term policy planning.
Before joining the department, Karandikar was Director of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur from April 2018 to September 2023 and at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, he had also served as Dean (Faculty Affairs) and Head of the Electrical Engineering Department.
He is widely credited for spearheading the creation of the Telecom Standards Development Society of India, India’s telecom standards body, bringing together industry, academia and government stakeholders. Karandikar was the founding member and former Chairman of TSDSI, helping position India as an active contributor to global telecom standards conversations.
His policy exposure predates the current appointment. Karandikar served as Part-Time Member of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India from January 2018 to January 2021, where he engaged with regulatory aspects of the fast-evolving telecom sector.
An academic with multiple patents, international journal publications and contributions to IEEE and 3GPP standards, Karandikar received the IEEE Standards Association’s Standards Medallion in December 2016 in New Jersey. His team also won the Mozilla Open Innovation Challenge prize in March 2017 for work on rural broadband and digital empowerment.
The appointment places a professional with experience spanning engineering research, institutional administration, telecom regulation and national standards-building into a role that influences cross-sector policy thinking.
BJP National President Nitin Nabin said Karandikar’s expertise, alongside other appointees, would strengthen India’s policy framework under the Prime Minister’s leadership.
Karandikar joins the reconstituted Niti Aayog at a time when technology, digital infrastructure and standards-setting are increasingly central to economic growth, governance delivery and long-term strategic planning across sectors. |
