CHENNAI: VP Jeyaseelan, Director of Tourism, on Wednesday assumed charge as the Commissioner of Archaeology.

He succeeds T Udhayachandran, Chairman and Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation Limited (TIIC), who had been holding additional charge of the Archaeology Department.

Udhayachandran served as the in-charge Commissioner for the past eight years. During his tenure, the department identified several new archaeological sites across Tamil Nadu and undertook a number of excavations and heritage conservation initiatives.

Jeyaseelan will continue to serve as Director of Tourism while assuming charge as Commissioner of Archaeology.