Ashish Chatterjee appointed as Managing Director of Chennai Metro Rail Limited

Chennai, India (Rail & Metro Today): Senior IAS officer Ashish Chatterjee has assumed charge as the Principal Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu and Managing Director of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) on 29 August 2026.

A 1999-batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, Chatterjee has returned to his parent cadre following his central deputation and takes over the leadership of CMRL at a crucial stage in the expansion of Chennai’s metro network.

Before his latest appointment, Chatterjee served as Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser in the Ministry of Steel, where he also served as a Government Director on the Board of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). His career has included significant experience in public administration, infrastructure, finance and industrial sectors.

He holds a B.Tech degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Over the course of his administrative career, he has served as District Collector of Viluppuram, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur. His previous assignments have also included serving as Managing Director of TRIFED and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Chatterjee assumes charge at a time when CMRL is executing and planning several major metro expansion initiatives. The Chennai Metro Phase II project, covering approximately 118.9 km across three corridors, is currently under implementation and represents one of the country’s largest urban metro construction programmes.

CMRL is also pursuing further expansion proposals, including the Poonamallee–Sunguvarchatram corridor via Sriperumbudur, the Koyambedu–Pattabiram corridor via Ambattur and Avadi, and the proposed Chennai Airport–Kilambakkam extension. These projects are at various stages of government approval and planning.

His experience in financial management, large-scale government programmes and public-sector administration is expected to support CMRL's efforts to deliver its ongoing projects and advance Chennai's future urban mobility plans.