Vikram Dev Dutt, a senior bureaucrat, has been named chairman and managing director (CMD) of Air India Ltd. Dutt is an AGMUT cadre IAS officer from the 1993 batch. According to an instruction published by the Personnel Ministry, he has been nominated as the chief of Air India with the rank and salary of Additional Secretary. He was previously the Principal Secretary (Tourism) in the Delhi government.

In October of last year, the Centre accepted Tata Son's proposal of Rs 18,000 crore to purchase 100 percent of the debt-ridden state-run airline. The takeover is not yet complete. Talace Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of the salt-to-software conglomerate's parent firm, had submitted the winning bid of Rs 2,700 crore in cash and Rs 15,300 crore in debt.