Kharola takes charge as Air India CMD

Senior IAS officer Pradeep Singh Kharola, who headed Namma Metro, on Monday took charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India.

A 1985-batch Karnataka cadre officer, Kharola succeeded Rajiv Bansal, who was holding the additional charge of Air India CMD.  He would be steering the national carrier at a time when the government has started the process for its strategic disinvestment.

A PhD in public transport systems from IIT-Delhi, his first posting was in Haveri as Assistant Commissioner. He was also Principal Secretary to Jagadish Shettar when he was Chief Minister of Karnataka. He also headed the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation Ltd.