Ramendra Kumar Tewari Given Additional Charge of AM (Planning), Railway Board

Ramendra Kumar Tewari, presently serving as Additional Member (Railway Electrification) on the Railway Board, has been entrusted with additional charge of the post of Additional Member (Planning), Railway Board. Tewari is an officer of the Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE).

The Additional Member (Planning) post at the Railway Board is responsible for coordinating long-term project planning across the Indian Railways network, including new line development, capacity augmentation and investment prioritisation across zones, making it one of the Board's core planning-oriented Member-level charges.

Tewari's substantive portfolio as Additional Member (Railway Electrification) covers the Railways' ongoing electrification programme, which has been a major infrastructure priority for the network in recent years as the organisation has worked toward full electrification of its broad-gauge routes.

Holding both the Electrification and Planning portfolios together places Tewari at the intersection of two closely related functions, since electrification projects typically require close coordination with the Railway Board's broader planning and capacity-expansion priorities across zones.

IRSEE officers, who are trained in electrical and electrification engineering disciplines specific to the Railways, periodically move into planning and other cross-functional Member-level roles at the Board when their engineering background is considered relevant to the additional charge being assigned.

The additional charge arrangement is expected to remain in place until a dedicated appointment is made to the Planning post, consistent with how the Railway Board typically manages vacancies at the Member level on an interim basis.

The order assigning the additional charge takes immediate effect, according to the Railway Board's notification.

The Railway Board's Planning directorate is one of the organisation's oldest functional units, historically responsible for evaluating and prioritising new line proposals, doubling and gauge-conversion projects, and capacity-augmentation works submitted by zonal railways, work that requires coordination with the Finance and Infrastructure Members on funding availability and with individual zones on ground-level feasibility.

Railway electrification, the portfolio Tewari holds in a substantive capacity, has been one of the network's largest capital programmes over the past decade, with the Railways working toward converting the bulk of its broad-gauge route network to electric traction as part of a broader push to reduce diesel dependence and lower operating costs across the system.

The overlap between electrification and planning functions is not incidental: electrification projects require route-level clearances and capacity assessments that fall within the Planning directorate's remit, meaning an officer holding both charges is positioned to coordinate directly between the two functions rather than relying solely on inter-directorate correspondence, a factor that can speed up decision-making on projects that span both portfolios.

The Railway Board periodically assigns combined charges of this kind when portfolios are seen as functionally complementary, a practice that has precedent in prior arrangements pairing infrastructure-heavy Member roles with the Planning directorate during transition periods between permanent appointments.

Tewari's dual charge is expected to remain in place until the Railway Board makes a dedicated appointment to the Planning post, with the arrangement allowing ongoing electrification and capacity-planning proposals to move forward without an administrative gap at the Additional Member level.

The order reflects the Railway Board's general approach of assigning additional charges to Members with functionally adjacent portfolios whenever a vacancy arises, rather than leaving a senior planning-related post unfilled during the interim period.

The Railway Board is expected to review the arrangement periodically as it works toward identifying a permanent officer for the Planning post.