OREANDA-NEWS. February 02, 2015. Dr VK Saraswat took over as member NITI Aayog here today. Dr Saraswat is former Secretary of Defence (Research & Development- R&D) and Director General of Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).

A PhD in Combustion Engineering, Dr Saraswat played a very significant role in the development of the country’s first Liquid Propulsion Engine, DEVIL. As Project Director of Prithvi, he steered the design, development, production and induction of the first indigenous Surface-to-Surface missile system into the armed forces.

He was conferred the Padma Shri in 1998 and the Padma Bhusan in 2013.