New Delhi: In a key bureaucratic development, the Government of India has appointed IAS Avinash Purushottam Das Joshi as the new Secretary of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI).Â
Joshi is a 1994 batch officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre. He succeeds IAS Subrat Gupta (1990 batch), who retired on May 31, 2025.
A seasoned Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Joshi was previously serving as the Additional Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). With his appointment, the ministry sees the end of a temporary leadership gap that was filled by IAS Sanjeev Chopra (1990 batch), Secretary of the Department of Food and Public Distribution, who held additional charge of MoFPI for over a month.
Joshi brings with him extensive experience in public administration and governance, having held crucial roles both at the state and central levels. His appointment comes at a strategic time, as the government intensifies its focus on agri-processing, food innovation, and value-added exports to enhance farmers’ income and minimize post-harvest losses.
Joshi’s leadership is expected to steer the ministry toward achieving its goals of modernizing India’s food processing sector and strengthening rural-agrarian linkages in the value chain.
