, who has been working as the Commerce Secretary, has now been appointed as the new head of the telecom sector watchdog, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on a three-year term.

Mr. Khullar will replace Mr. J S Sarma, whose tenure was completed today. Mr. Khullar was set to retire next year but will work until May, 2015 as the chief of the watchdog. He is a 1975 batch IAS officer of Delhi cadre.

He is joining the TRAI at a time when the regulator is facing criticism over its recent recommendations on the 2G spectrum. The head of leading telecom companies have warned that have warned that the proposal of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 2 G spectrum allocation would be devastating for the telecom industry and service providers. The auction has to be organized before 31August, 2012.

The TRAI has proposed a reserve price of Rs 3,622 crore for 1MHz of pan-India 2G spectrum in the 1800 megahertz band as against Rs 380 crore, which was set for auctions in 2008. Telecom service providers and experts say that if the recommended reserve price is accepted then this could increase costs for the players and will ultimately make service more expensive for the consumers.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI) have also released a joint statement saying that recommendations are shocking and described them as being arbitrary, regressive and inconsistent.

Mr. Khullar is credited with th betterment of trade links between India and Pakistan as commerce secretary and he has also successfully implemented measures that helped exports cross USD 300-billion mark in 2011-12.