Indian economist Vijay Kelkar will head the chief economic advisor (CEA) search and selection committee, a government official told CNBC-TV18.

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Vijay Kelkar is a former bureaucrat who has served as the petroleum secretary and had succeeded the-then Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor C Rangarajan.

The search panel consists of secretary economic affairs, secretary department of personnel and training (DoPT), among other members.

The union finance minister received around 20 applications for CEA job till now, the official added.

For the post, the applicant is required to be an MA in economics, preferably with a doctorate, and six years of experience in economic research or giving economic advice or evaluating economic reforms.

The applicant has to be at the most 50 years old if coming from outside the government and 56 if from within the government.

The panel will be required to recommend shortlisted names to the appointments committee of the cabinet.

In June, Arvind Subramanian stepped down from his chief economic advisor post reasoning that he wished to return to the US due to family commitments.

“Few days ago, chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian met me over video conferencing," Arun Jaitley, finance minister, said in a Facebook post that month.

“He informed me that he would like to go back to the United States on account of pressing family commitments. His reasons were personal but extremely important for him. He left me with no option but to agree with him.”