Former railway board chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti is new telecom regulator

Anil Kumar Lahoti, a former chairman and chief executive officer of the railway board, has been named chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), a government notification said.

The appointments committee of the cabinet approved the appointment of Lahoti as Trai chairman, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) said.

The post of Trai chairman, who has a term of three years, has been lying vacant for four months since P.D. Vaghela retired on 30 September after a two-year term.

An independent regulatory body, Trai is tasked with regulating telecom services in India, including fixation and revision of tariffs for telecom services.

One of the main objectives of Trai is to provide a fair and transparent policy environment that promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition.

Lahoti, who served as the railway board chairman from 1 January to 31 October, belongs to the 1984 batch of the Indian Railway Service of Engineers. 

A graduate of civil engineering from Madhav Institute of Technology and Science, Gwalior, Lahoti did his master’s in structural engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. 

He has also taken training in strategic management and leadership programs at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh; Bocconi School of Management, Milan; and Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. 

He has carried out studies of the development of stations in Hong Kong, Japan, the UK, Germany, and Switzerland including commercial development on railway land. 

Lahoti spent over 36 years in railways, working in various capacities in different regions.