J.S. Deepak

J.S. DEEPAK is a retired IAS officer with decades of experience in India's economic ministries. He has served as Secretary, Telecom and IT, and as India's ambassador to the WTO in Geneva. As Joint Secretary Telecom, he designed and conducted the country's landmark first spectrum auction in 2010. At the Department of Commerce, he was India's Chief Negotiator for the WTO, RCEP and EU for trade agreements spanning agriculture, goods, services and investment. He also won a crucial battle to safeguard India's food security programme and protect the livelihoods of farmers.

In Uttar Pradesh, Deepak worked for more than a decade on innovative models to improve access, quality and demand for health and education services. He spearheaded the cooked midday meal programme in more than 1,00,000 government primary schools for over 15 million children.

An MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, he is currently Group Director, International Strategy and Public Policy, Bharti Enterprises. Invited to speak at various national and international institutions, he also teaches a credit course on international trade at the Indian School of Business (ISB).