New Delhi: The Central Government has appointed Sambit Patra as the Chairman of India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), a Miniratna PSU under the Ministry of Tourism, on Wednesday. According to an official order, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Tourism to split the post of Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of ITDC into two separate roles: Chairman and Managing Director (MD).

Now, G Kamala Vardhan Rao (IAS), who is serving as CMD of ITDC, will hold the post of Managing Director of ITDC till further orders.

"ACC has approved the proposals of the Ministry of Tourism of splitting of the post of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) into two posts of Chairman, ITDC and Managing Director (MD) ITDC; Appointment of Dr Sambit Patra as Part-Time Non-Executive Director and Chairman of ITDC for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge, or until further orders, whichever is earlier," the order read.

Sambit Patra is the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He did his first job at Hindu Rao Hospital. He was appointed as an Independent Director of the board of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) in 2017.

ITDC is a hospitality, retail and education PSU owned by the government, under the Ministry of Tourism. Established in 1966, it owns over 17 properties under the Ashok Group of Hotels brand, across India.

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