Varsha Ashok Aglawe, India’s First Woman Director General of Geological Survey

Smt. Varsha Ashok Aglawe assumed charge as the 54th Director General of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) on 31st July 2026, becoming the first woman to lead the organisation in its 176-year history. She took over from Shri Asit Saha, who held the post from 27th July 2024.

Smt. Varsha Ashok Aglawe Assumes Charge as the 54th Director General of Geological Survey of India

A geoscientist with over three decades of experience, Smt. Aglawe joined GSI in 1992 after a stint with the Indian Bureau of Mines. She has served across GSI's Central, Northern and Eastern Regions besides Central Headquarters, most recently as Additional Director General & Head of Department, Eastern Region, Kolkata. She also set up a modern Palynology Laboratory at GSI's Lucknow office and has led several multidisciplinary geoscience programmes nationwide.

Specialisation and Geological Work of Smt. Varsha Ashok Aglawe

1. Specialising in palaeontology and palynology, Smt. Aglawe has worked extensively on Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene sediments, the K-T boundary, and the Satpura-Gondwana basins, and identified the Salbardi Ghorpend area as a new dinosaur nesting site in Central India. 
2. She has collaborated with the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology and represented GSI at PDAC 2023 in Toronto. 
3. On taking charge, she pledged to align GSI's work with the government's focus on critical mineral exploration, calling for faster exploration of deep and concealed deposits, expanded offshore surveys, stronger lab infrastructure, and greater emphasis on natural hazard studies and capacity-building for young geoscientists.

Geological Survey of India

Set up in 1851, GSI is one of India's oldest scientific institutions, functioning under the Ministry of Mines as the national body for geological mapping, mineral resource assessment, and geoscientific research, including exploration of strategic and critical minerals vital to industry and energy.