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'{{npov|date=January 2011}} {{original research|date=January 2011}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Pradip Baijal |image = Pradip Baijal.JPG |birth_date = |birth_place = |residence = [[Noida]], [[India]] |death_date = |death_place = |spouse = |children = 2 |alma_mater = [[Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee]] |religion = [[Hindu]] |footnotes = |date= 3 January || year = 2010 | }} '''Pradip Baijal''' is an officer of the Indian Administrative Service who retired as chief of the [[Telecom Regulatory Authority of India]]. Baijal has been a formidable bureaucrat during his service years, and [[Business Standard]], in an article in 2003 called him a "storm-raiser". {{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} Pradip Baijal held senior administrative positions in the Ministry of Finance and industries at state level but he first came into prominence as the disinvestment secretary in the BJP Govt on 1999 and was part of the team that was involved in the disinvestment of various Govt companies like BP, VSNL, IPCL and Maruti. He managed to extract a Rs 1000 crore control premium for the government as part of the Maruti sale, which is seen as a success.<ref>http://www.financialexpress.com/news/maruti-ipo-may-garner-rs-700-cr/70412/</ref> He was appointed chairman of TRAI in a critical phase in 2003 when Arun Shourie of the BJP was minister, and then for a brief time with [[Dayanidhi Maran]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} He retired as the Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in March 2006.<ref>http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/mar/21baijal.htm</ref> He worked in the Central Power Ministry for six years from 1994 to 2000, and was in charge of privatization and reforms in the Ministry. In this assignment, he assisted the government in writing the rules of liberalisation of the sector, set up State and Central Electricity Regulatory Commissions, seperated generation, transmission and generation and initiated reforms. == Education == He was trained as an engineer before he joined the [[Indian Administrative Service]]. Baijal earned his BE (Honours) in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology at Roorkee. He took part in a one year visiting fellowship at [[Oxford University]] on the Privatisation of Public Enterprise. == Career == {{BLP unsourced section|date=January 2011}} Pradip Baijal is a 1966 batch IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre. He held senior administrative positions in the Ministry of Finance and industries at state level but he first came into prominence as the disinvestment secretary in the BJP Govt on 1999 and was part of the team that was involved in the disinvestment of various government companies like BP, VSNL, IPCL and Maruti. During his tenure as a Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, he facilitated an explosive growth in the sector by appropriate regulation. == Accomplishments == He has to his credit various published articles in noted journals and periodicals. Pearson has recently published his book on Disinvestment in India – I Lose and you Gain. The book shows how India earned more by privatizing 5 percent of the Government of India’s equities in comparison to very large privatizations in China and Russia. [http://pradipbaijal.com/profile.html Baijal] has trained telecom regulators on behalf of the World Bank (Infodev) in Africa. He similarly works for ITU in Southeast Asia and has also undertaken restructuring of telecom regulation in Lao, Myanmar, and Oman, and has lectured ministers and regulators in Southeast Asia on reforms and regulation. He had also taken training classes on power regulation in 1999, in Vietnam. He is on the boards of Nestle, GVK, and Patni Computers, and advisory boards of the India Oil Corporation, Infrastructure Development Finance Company. For a few months in 2009, he was the chairman of an advisory committee to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board in India. As Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), from 2003 to 2006 he changed cost plus regulation to competition regulation in India leading to an unparalleled growth in the sector. So significant was the effect of many regulatory changes brought about by him that India achieved a target Teledensity of 15%, prescribed for 2010 in 2006 itself, with a consensus forecast that 2010 will see a density more than 30 to 40%. Several international bodies, including Shosteck, an independent US-based research company, It actvily achived 50%. The US Regulator, have lauded his achievements at the TRAI. At both the TRAI and the Ministry of Disinvestment Mr. Baijal often had to deal with strong opposition to the Government's initiatives from both the political establishment and the business community. This obviously resulted in its share of controversy. Undaunted, Mr. Baijal pushed ahead and finally achieved more than most had expected. [[Category:Indian civil servants]] [[Category:Living people]]'