Jamshedpur, April 9: From the bylanes of Air base colony in Kadma to the corridors of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ujal Singh Bhatia is a true success story.

A former student of Loyola School, Jamshedpur, Bhatia is the Indian ambassador to the WTO head office in Geneva, Switzerland. He also heads the 13-member Indian entourage at the global trade hub.

Currently in the city for a visit, Bhatia finished his graduation and masters in economics from Delhi University and got his IAS degree in 1974.

He served the Orissa government for almost 20 years before moving to Delhi as the joint secretary in the ministry of commerce and later in the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) in the Indian government. He was in the core committee that formulated the FM radio drafts in India. “It gives me immense pleasure to see how the FM revolution has picked up in the city,” says Bhatia who joined WTO two years ago.

“WTO is right now looking at improving bi-lateral trade relations and also working out what kind of liberalisation policies should be adopted by developing economies. We present India’s point of view on various trade issues,” he says.

Bhatia and his team of officers are also working on major decisions involved in the Doha round of negotiations and formulations of the trade rules and regulations.

“Another major area of work these days is in the field of intellectual property rights,” adds Bhatia who belongs to the renowned Bhatia family that runs the popular Wasava Singh bookstore at Kamani centre in Bistupur.

Home still has a special place in his heart, though. “Jamshedpur is home and I make it a point to come here at least once a year,” says Bhatia.

So what lies in the future?

“My official term ends next year but I may have to continue if the government wants me,” he says adding: “An IAS officer is not supposed to reveal much about himself.”