Amitabh Kant steps down as G20 Sherpa

New Delhi: Former NITI Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant has stepped down as India’s G20 Sherpa, bringing to a close a 45-year-long career in government service. Kant announced his resignation on Monday, stating that he now intends to support free enterprise, startups, think tanks, and academic institutions.

He shared the development on the social media platform X, writing, “After 45 years of dedicated service to the Government, I have decided to embrace new opportunities and begin a new chapter. I am deeply grateful to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for accepting my resignation as India’s G20 Sherpa and for the trust he placed in me to drive developmental initiatives that shaped India’s growth trajectory.”

See the X post here: 

My New Journey:
After 45 years of dedicated government service, I have made the decision to embrace new opportunities and move forward in life. I am incredibly thankful to the Prime Minister of India for accepting my resignation as G20 Sherpa and for having given me the…

— Amitabh Kant (@amitabhk87) June 16, 2025

Kant, a retired 1980-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the Kerala cadre, was appointed as G20 Sherpa in July 2022. During his time in the role, he was closely associated with India’s G20 presidency in 2023 and played a part in the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of the grouping.

“India successfully ensured the inclusion of the African Union in the G20, fulfilling India’s commitment to global equity and the voice of the Global South,” he said.

Throughout his bureaucratic career, Kant was involved in a number of central government programmes, including Make in India, Startup India and the Ease of Doing Business initiative. He has previously noted that these efforts helped improve India’s standing in global indices, including a 79-place climb in the World Bank’s ease of doing business rankings.