The Union government has named Susanta Kumar Purohit, an Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE) officer of 1996 batch as the new Chairman of V O Chidambaranar Port Authority. Purohit’s appointment was cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on recently, according to a government order. IRSEE is a Group A Central Engineering Services of the Indian Railways.

Prior to this, he was working as Joint Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Govt of India with the primary responsibility of promoting the chemical and petrochemical industry in the country.

In his earlier stints, Purohit was Special Secretary, Housing & Urban Development, Govt. of Odisha where he worked on some of the flagship programmes of the state such as: Smart LED street lighting, Drink from Tap, Management of water & waste water, urban roads improvement, Digital Door & Street Numbering etc.

With over 30 years of experience, Purohit also worked in various capacities with Indian Railways. He also worked with Ministry of Power, Govt. of India and Orissa Power Generation Corporation Limited.