Dr Sonia Sethi, IAS, currently the Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, Relief and Rehabilitation, Government of Maharashtra, is building a World class State Emergency Operation and Control Centre and catalysing disaster mitigation projects.
Dr. Sonia Sethi, an IAS officer of the 1994 batch Maharashtra cadre, is known to bring exceptional skills to the office she holds. She is currently the Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, Relief and Rehabilitation, Government of Maharashtra.
Dr. Sethi’s professional graph has witnessed a growing trajectory in terms of her performance from grass root level governance to specializing in infrastructure management. She effectively handled challenging postings such as CEO of ZPs and District Collector. Thereafter, she joined the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) as Joint Managing Director in 2004 where her tenure was marked by execution of major infrastructure projects and transparency in executing rehabilitation works in Navi Mumbai.
In 2006, Dr. Sethi was selected to join the Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC), India’s largest private sector infrastructure finance company as Advisor, Public Private Partnerships (PPP) for three years. Here she spearheaded the India Infrastructure Initiative and conceptualized and structured complex infrastructure projects across the country in urban renewal, SEZs, water supply and transport infrastructure.
Between 2009 and 2013, she served as the Joint MD and also as the MD of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). She led MSRDC to the final commissioning of the iconic Worli-Bandra sea-link in Mumbai and effectively structured projects like extensions of the sea-link, water transport expressways, flyovers and intra-city road networks.
Thereafter, Dr. Sethi served as Member Secretary of the Maharashtra State Water Supply and Sewerage Board and infused greater efficiency and PPPs in the water supply sector. Dr. Sethi took charge as Maharashtra’s first woman Transport Commissioner in May 2015. Displaying zero tolerance towards corruption, she initiated effective drives against overloading, errant taxi auto drivers, developed a road safety policy and execution plan and facilitated entry of women into the male dominated space of transport drivers. She then went on to serve as Joint Secretary, in the Govt. of India in the Ministry of Culture where she streamlined activities relating to promotion of International Cultural Relations and displayed her commitment in approving new museums and reforming existing ones thereby creating world class repositories of the country’s culture heritage through use of technology and domain expertise. Later in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, she contributed substantially to the Ease of Doing Business campaign and zero pendency of applications in field formations.
From February 2019 to April 2022, she served as Additional Metropolitan Commissioner (AMC) – Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), where she was in charge of the ambitious Mumbai Metro Project of 14 lines (337 kms), infrastructure projects of roads, bridges, flyovers etc. along with Urban Planning for an area covering – 6335 sq. kms. As the Head of the Metro Project Implementation Unit of MMRDA, she was instrumental in catalyzing and facilitating the commissioning of 35 kms of Metro Line 7 and 2A in the Andheri, Dahisar and D.N. Nagar suburbs of Mumbai.
Dr. Sethi had a very fruitful tenure as Principal Secretary, Urban Development, Government of Maharashtra where the administration and financial management of 414 urban local bodies was streamlined. Centrally sponsored programs like Amrut, PMAY, PM Swanidhi took an exponential leap while in the Swachha Bharat Mission, Maharashtra bagged the country’s first prize for 2022-23.
In her tenure as the Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, Relief and Rehabilitation, she is catalyzing the State Disaster Mitigation projects and schemes and building a World class State Emergency Operation and Control Centre. From state to centre, from government to private sector, from administration to academics, Dr Sethi has straddled multiple worlds.
With an exemplary academic record, Dr. Sethi has been a rank holder in high school and a gold medalist in graduation and post-graduation. She has a Master degree in Major Programme Management from the prestigious Said business school, University of Oxford and a doctorate (PhD) in Infrastructure Financing. She has been a recipient of the Ford Foundation Fellowship, the Eisenhower Fellowship and has attended multiple specialized training programmes in the University of Harvard and Berkeley.
