Mumbai: Balwant Singh, principal secretary, Gujarat government, has taken full-time charge as the managing director of Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers Company (GNFC), Bharuch.

Prior to this appointment Singh was the managing director of Gujarat State Fertilisers and Chemicals, Baroda and was also holding the additional charge as the managing director of GNFC.

A bright person right from his student days, Singh, an IAS officer of the 1975 batch, completed his post-graduation (MSc) from the department of science, Banaras Hindu University, and also holds an MA degree from the University of Reading, UK.

Singh has also served as the district collector of Bharuch and Rajkot and was the deputy secretary of the science and technology department, Government of India, New Delhi. After serving as the director of the department of environment and forest, he also gave his valuable services as the Surat municipal commissioner and as the head of the Urban Development Authority, Surat.

Singh has served at important positions like the chief election commissioner of Gujarat and secretary of the state, port and fisheries department. An avid reader, he is interested in literature and sports. Singh made Gujarat, and India on the whole, proud when he was given an important and distinct responsibility by an international organisation of guiding the Indonesian election commission during the 1999 elections in Indonesia, which took place after a gap of 40 years.