Siraj Hussain

IAS 1979 · Uttar Pradesh cadre

Siraj Hussain

Former Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Food Processing, Government of India. Writer and researcher on food policy, farm markets and agricultural reform.

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Siraj Hussain
Ex-Secretary
Agriculture and Food Processing, Government of India
Ex-CMD, FCI
Food Corporation of India
Ex-Vice-Chancellor
Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi
300+
Opinion pieces since 2016
PhD (Honoris Causa)
Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Andhra Pradesh, 2016
SKOCH Award
For Economics, 2022
01

Profile

Siraj Hussain joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1979 and was allotted the Uttar Pradesh cadre. Over a career spanning the State and Union governments, he served as Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Food Corporation of India and as Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministries of Food Processing Industries and Agriculture.

As Agriculture Secretary he oversaw the formulation of several new schemes, including the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, the electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) and the Price Stabilisation Fund.

From 2016 to 2022 he was a Visiting Senior Fellow at ICRIER. He writes regularly on agriculture, food security, trade and governance, and serves on corporate boards and Government committees. He has written several articles on Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls.

In September 2021 he promoted Arcus Policy Research Private Limited with Shweta Saini, to undertake research on issues confronting agriculture and allied sectors. He resigned as a Director in December 2022.

He hosted a series of talks at India International Centre, New Delhi under the Mapping Sustainable Agriculture Lecture Series.

He curates a series of discussions at the India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi under IICC Dialogues.

02

Former postings with the Government

Government of Uttar Pradesh

State Government, IAS (UP cadre)

  1. Secretary to the Chief Minister
  2. Secretary, Education
  3. Managing Director, UP State Industrial Development Corporation
  4. Managing Director, UP State Agro Industries Corporation
  5. Registrar, Co-operative Societies
  6. District Magistrate, Hardoi
  7. Regional Food Controller, Kanpur and Jhansi

Government of India

Union Government

  1. Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture
    Formulated PM Fasal Bima Yojana, e-NAM and the Price Stabilisation Fund
  2. Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries
  3. Secretary, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
    Brief tenure
  4. Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Food Corporation of India
  5. Joint Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution
  6. Deputy Managing Director, National Cooperative Development Corporation
03

ICRIER

April 2016 – March 2022

Visiting Senior Fellow, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations

Under the guidance of renowned agricultural economist Dr Ashok Gulati, he published several working papers on issues critical to Indian agriculture — crop insurance, food subsidy, futures markets, marketing reforms and agriculture in several large states. With Dr Gulati, he wrote several opinion pieces in The Indian Express and The Financial Express.

WORKING PAPER 357 · 2018
Supporting Indian Farmers: Price Support or Direct Income/Investment Support?
WORKING PAPER 352 · 2018
Crop Insurance in India: Key Issues and Way Forward
WORKING PAPER 349 · 2017
Agricultural Commodity Futures: Searching for Potential Winners
WORKING PAPER 343 · 2017
Indian Food and Welfare Schemes: Scope for Digitization towards Cash Transfers
REPORT · 2017
Getting Punjab Agriculture Back on High Growth Path
REPORT · 2017 / 2021
Agricultural growth in Uttar Pradesh — sources, drivers and region-wise performance
BOOK CHAPTER · 2021
Performance of Agriculture in Gujarat
In Revitalizing Indian Agriculture and Boosting Farmer Incomes, Springer
04

Boards and Committees

INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR AND CHAIRMAN · 2017–2025
National e-Repository Limited
Subsidiary of NCDEX (September 21, 2017 – September 20, 2025)
INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR · CURRENT
Shree Renuka Sugars Limited
Listed company; sugar, ethanol, renewable power and refining
INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR · 2017–2020
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited
September 2017 – September 2020

Government committees and advisory roles

05

Research and Publications

AWARD RT Doshi Best Paper Award, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), for “Indian sugar policies: connecting production, consumption and health” (with Shweta Saini and Pulkit Khatri, 2022).

Journal articles

  • New Series of Consumer Price Index: A Case of Many Slips
    Economic and Political Weekly, LXI(20), 2026 · with Sanjay Kumar, N K Sharma
  • Beyond Loan Waivers: Empirical Evidence from Punjab, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh on Farmer Distress and Coping Mechanisms
    Agricultural Economics Research Review, 38(1), 2025 · with Shweta Saini
  • Does India have enough feedstock to meet its E20 fuel-blending targets by 2025?
    Agricultural Economics Research Review, 36(2), 2023 · with Shweta Saini
  • Indian Sugar Policies: Connecting Production, Consumption and Health
    Agricultural Economics Research Review, 35(2), 2022 · with Shweta Saini, Pulkit Khatri
  • Special issue on Agriculture (editor)
    Journal of Governance, Volume 24, January 2022

Book chapters

  • Farmers and Consumers in Competition
    State of India’s Livelihoods Report, 2025 · with Shyma Jose
  • National Monetisation Pipeline: Silos and the Future of the Public Distribution System
    India 2047: High Income with Equity, 2023 · with Shweta Saini
  • Structural Reforms and Governance Issues in Indian Agriculture
    Indian Agriculture Towards 2030, NITI Aayog and FAO, Springer, 2022 · with Seema Bathla
  • Still in Chaos
    State of India’s Environment 2022 · with Jugal Mohapatra
  • Performance of Agriculture in Gujarat
    Revitalizing Indian Agriculture and Boosting Farmer Incomes, Springer, 2021
  • Structural Pitfalls: MGNREGA’s Lost Potential
    State of India’s Environment 2021 · with Jugal Mohapatra
  • Future of Indian Agriculture in Post Covid-19 World
    Future of Indian Economy in Post Covid World, FICCI, 2020
  • DFI: Work in Progress
    Handbook of Indian Agriculture 2020: Charting the Way out of the Farm Crisis, The Hindu BusinessLine
  • Seeds of the Future
    Ease of Living, FICCI, 2019
  • Value Education in Universities: Experience of Jamia Hamdard
    Philosophy of Value-Oriented Education: Theory and Practice, Proceedings of National Seminar, Indian Council of Philosophical Research, 2002
  • Strengthening the Role of Institutional Agencies for Optimising Fertiliser Distribution
    Optimising Fertiliser Production, Distribution and Usage, Fertiliser Association of India Seminar, 1991 · with J N L Srivastava

Working papers, reports and studies

06

Opinion pieces

More than 300 columns since 2016 on agriculture, food processing, MSP and procurement, food inflation, trade, crop insurance, ethanol blending programme, Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and data quality. Regular columnist for Moneycontrol and The Wire.

All opinion pieces · 334

Latest to earliest
  1. 13 Oct 2026
    The Wire
    The Mess That SIR Has Created Is Beyond Repair. It Must be Scrapped ↗
    With Sanjay Kumar, N.K. Sharma
  2. 23 Sep 2026
    Moneycontrol
    FSSAI’s high fat, sugar and salt labelling debate needs a way forward ↗
  3. 16 Sep 2026
    Moneycontrol
    Junk food restrictions highlight India’s growing nutrition divide ↗
  4. 2 Sep 2026
    The Wire
    SIR, Migration and the Condition of 'Ordinary Residence' ↗
    With Sanjay Kumar, N.K. Sharma
  5. 31 Aug 2026
    Deccan Herald
    Faulty sugar estimates leave a bitter taste ↗
    With Shweta Saini
  6. 24 Aug 2026
    The Wire
    E-20 Explainer: What Are India's Vehicles Drinking? ↗
    With Shweta Saini, G.K. Sood
  7. 14 Aug 2026
    Moneycontrol
    India needs expert review before raising ethanol blending ↗
  8. 12 Aug 2026
    The Wire
    In Haryana and Uttarakhand, 'Logical Discrepancy' Haunts SIR, Temporary Absence Treated as Migration ↗
    With Sanjay Kumar, N.K. Sharma
  9. 3 Aug 2026
    The Wire
    Has India's Agricultural Productivity Really Tripled Over 2015-2025, or Are the Statistics Flawed? ↗
    With Sanjay Kumar, N.K. Sharma
  10. 17 Jul 2026
    Times Now
    Ethanol Blending Programme Needs a Fresh Look ↗
  11. 7 Jul 2026
    The Wire
    Labour Bureau’s Methodology is Causing Confusion in Rural Wage Rates Data. Here’s Why ↗
    With Sanjay Kumar, N.K. Sharma
  12. 2 Jul 2026
    Moneycontrol
    June rainfall was abysmal, but it's premature to lose hope for Kharif season ↗
  13. Jun 2026
    Rural Voice
    Import of Urea gives headache to Government
  14. 20 May 2026
    The Wire
    From 'Absent' Voter to Suspected Citizen: The Human Cost of SIR ↗
    With N.K. Sharma, Sanjay Kumar
  15. 15 May 2026
    The Wire
    Ways to Make Voters Disappear: SIR Deletions and 'Consensus' Politics ↗
    With N.K. Sharma, Sanjay Kumar
  16. 6 May 2026
    East Asia Forum
    India's farms dodged the Hormuz crisis, but its budget didn't ↗
  17. 27 Apr 2026
    Moneycontrol
    Poor monsoon need not mean a big hit on farm output ↗
  18. 21 Apr 2026
    The Wire
    Why the Uttar Pradesh SIR is a Riddle ↗
    With Sanjay Kumar, N.K. Sharma
  19. 11 Apr 2026
    The Wire
    ECI’s Motto of 'No Voter to Be Left Behind' Has Now Been Left Far Behind ↗
    With Sanjay Kumar, N.K. Sharma
  20. 6 Apr 2026
    The Wire
    For a Robust Sugar Sector, Decision-Making Needs to Keep Pace with Evolving Situations ↗
Showing 20 of 334

Published in

BBC · BBC Hindi · BloombergQuint · Business Today · Business World · Deccan Herald · DNA · Down To Earth · East Asia Forum · The Economic Times · The Financial Express · The Hindu · The Hindu BusinessLine · Hindustan Times · India Today · The Indian Express · Mint · Moneycontrol · ThePrint · Rajasthan Patrika · Times of India · The Tribune · The Wire

07

Videos and TV appearances

180 television discussions, interviews and recorded talks since 2017 — on CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz, ET Now, Zee Business, NDTV, The Wire and more. Every card opens the original video in a new tab.

Latest

All appearances

Newest first · undated recordings at the end
23 Oct 2026
Zee Business
India-US Trade Deal: Expert Analysis with Dr Subhash Garg, former Union Finance Secretary
13 Oct 2026
NDTV Profit
With drought affecting nearly three-fourths of Maharashtra’s talukas, how severe is the crisis for farmers?
7 Oct 2026
ET Now Swadesh
Will food inflation rise further?
3 Oct 2026
Talking Trends
Crop Output Down, Food Inflation Rising: Govt Must Step in Urgently I Rajesh Mahapatra
1 Oct 2026
ET Now
Maharashtra Drought Crisis: 265 Talukas Hit; What Happens To Crops, Economy & Markets?
1 Oct 2026
NDTV Profit
India’s Water Crisis Deepens: Experts Decode What Drought Could Mean For Food Prices & Farmer
2 Sep 2026
Online
SIR Deletions and Chest-Thumping on GDP | The Wire Wrap
12 Aug 2026
Zee Business
Kharif Faslon ki buwai kaisi hai
12 Aug 2026
The Federal
50 Per Cent Drop In Rural Employment Guarantee: Aberration Or Deliberate? AI With Sanket
31 Jul 2026
Zee Business
Gold, Silver, Crude Oil & Base Metals: Complete Commodity Strategy | Commodity Live
28 Jul 2026
CNBC TV18
Rainfall 16% Deficient As El Nino Worries Remain; Pulses Acreage May Not Pick Up: Siraj Hussain
17 Jul 2026
Bloomberg
India's Rainfall Deficit Threatens Economy
Showing 12 of 180
08

Interviews to print media

09

Talks and lectures

HOST · INDIA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE
Mapping Sustainable Agriculture
Lecture and discussion series, New Delhi
HOST · INDIA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE
Agriculture Policy Discussion Series
Lecture and discussion series, New Delhi
10

At conferences and events

Keynotes, panels and felicitations at conferences in India and abroad. Select a photo to see it full size.

Showing 8 of 24