Dr S Chandrashekhar, serving as the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), is moving back to the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, much before the end of his tenure.

His appointment as DST Secretary was announced in December 2021. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved premature repatriation of Dr Srivari Chandrasekhar to his parent organisation- IICT on personal grounds, effective 10th July.

Dr Chandrashekhar has been associated with IICT since his doctoral studies in the late 1980s. He joined the institute in 1994 and since then has served in varying scientific positions till he took charge as the institute’s director in 2015.

Dr Chandrasekhar has received several accolades including Eminent Scientist Award for contributions in the field of Chemistry from Telangana State Government in 2017, CNR Rao National Prize for Chemical Research in 2012, CSIR Technology award 2014 and Infosys prize in Chemical sciences in 2014 for his contributions in synthetic organic chemistry.