Air India Chairman Rajiv Bansal has been appointed as the new aviation secretary as part of a major top-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre. Rajiv Bansal was appointed as Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Bansal is currently Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of Air India. He is a 1988-batch IAS Nagaland cadre, Bansal was serving as additional secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas before Air India. He will replace the current Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola, who retires on 30 September.
Last year in February, Bansal was appointed as the chairman and managing director of Air India for a second time. His appointment came just days after the government announced a 100% stake sale of the debt-ridden Air India.