Dr. P.D. Vaghela joined as Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 1st October, 2020. Prior to joining TRAI, Dr. Vaghela was Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers. Dr. Vaghela had graduated in Commerce in the year 1982. He did his MBA (Master of Business Administration) with a specialization in Financial Management in 1984 and also obtained an MA in Development Studies (Public Policy & Management) from the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, in the Netherlands, in the year 2005. He was decorated with a doctorate in the year 2013 in public management and policy by Sardar Patel University, Anand, Gujarat.

He joined the Indian Administrative Service [IAS] in 1986. He has held various assignments starting from the district level to the state level, during which he had won a number of awards for excellence as best collector & District Magistrate 86 District Development Officer. In his assignment as Chairman, Kandla Port (2008-2013), the port was awarded as the best port for five years of his tenure. He worked as Chief Commissioner of Sales Tax in Gujarat, during which period he played a major role in drafting GST law and its rules and fixing GST rates of goods and services as Convener of the national-level GST Law and GST Fitment Committees. He was closely involved in the GST implementation at the national level as a key member of the GST Implementation Committee.

As Secretary of Pharmaceuticals, he has launched four ambitious schemes to transform the sector. He also worked as convenor of Empowered Group 3 (now EG2), which handled the availability of critical medical supplies like PPE, N-95 masks, ventilators, and testing kits. Today India is exporting these items for which India was otherwise dependent on imports during pre-covid times. In May 2018, Dr. Vaghela was honoured by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India for excellence in Public Administration while appreciating his contribution to implementation of GST in India