Air India says Rajiv Bansal takes charge as chairman and managing director; Ashwani Lohani completes his one-year tenure last week

Mumbai: Senior IAS officer Rajiv Bansal on Monday took charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of disinvestment-bound Air India. This is the second time Bansal has taken over the reins of the national carrier. He had served as the CMD for little over three months in 2017. He replaces Ashwani Lohani, who completed his one-year tenure last week. [caption id=“attachment_7962721” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Air India aircraft. News18[/caption] In a release on Monday, Air India said Bansal has taken charge as the CMD. A 1988-batch IAS officer of the Nagaland cadre, he was the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas prior to this posting. In August 2017, Bansal was Air India’s interim CMD for little over three months. At that time also, he had replaced Lohani, who was then appointed as the Chairman of the Railway Board. In January, the government issued the preliminary bid document for 100 per cent stake sale in Air India, which has a debt pile of over Rs 60,000 crore. Air India’s 100 per cent shareholding in budget carrier Air India Express and 50 per cent stake in equal joint venture AISATS would also be sold as part of the strategic disinvestment.