V Somasundaran, currently posted as the Additional Chief Secretary in Kerala, has been appointed as the Secretary to the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

He will fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of D S Kalha, according to an official announcement.

A Kerala cadre IAS officer of 1979 batch, soft-spoken Somasundaran has been holding the charge of finance and information technology in Kerala with the rank of Additional Chief Secretary.

In his previous stint at the centre, he also served as the additional secretary, Department of Defence Production, before he was repatriated to his home state in September last year. Apart from his long experience in Kerala in different departments like finance and industry, he also served in the Union Commerce Ministry.