Sushil Kumar Lohani Named Chairman of Inland Waterways Authority, Succeeding Sunil Paliwal

Sushil Kumar Lohani, a 1995-batch IAS officer of the Odisha cadre serving as Officer on Special Duty in the Cabinet Secretariat, has been appointed Chairman of the Inland Waterways Authority of India. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet cleared the posting on August 10 in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India, temporarily upgrading the post, with Lohani succeeding Sunil Paliwal, who moves to the Department of Youth Affairs.

The Inland Waterways Authority, under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, is the statutory body responsible for developing and regulating India's network of navigable rivers and canals, a sector the government has been pushing to expand as a lower-cost alternative to road and rail freight movement. The Chairman's office oversees infrastructure projects on national waterways, including the Ganga and Brahmaputra systems, and coordinates with state governments and private operators on cargo and passenger vessel movement.

Lohani was most recently serving as Officer on Special Duty at the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, a posting he held since July 23, 2026, and before that as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, where he worked on decentralised governance policy and the institutional strengthening of rural administrative structures. His career in Odisha included service as Chief Electoral Officer, Principal Secretary for Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water, and District Magistrate of Sambalpur, Balangir and Kendujhar.

At the Centre, Lohani has held a range of assignments spanning different sectors, including Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Joint Secretary in the Department of Fertilizers, and Executive Director at the Rural Electrification Corporation. His academic background combines a degree in Mechanical Engineering with certifications in Economics and Information Technology, a mix that spans the technical and financial dimensions his new infrastructure-focused role will draw on.

His appointment continues a run of officers moving through the IWAI Chairman's post in fairly quick succession; Paliwal himself had only recently seen the post upgraded to Secretary-level rank before his own move to Youth Affairs. The temporary Secretary-level upgrade attached to the IWAI Chairman's post reflects the government's continuing emphasis on inland waterways as a priority infrastructure sector, warranting a rank commensurate with the scale of ongoing project work.

IWAI's current project pipeline includes multi-modal terminal development on the Ganga under the Jal Marg Vikas Project and navigation capacity expansion on the Brahmaputra, both of which require sustained coordination with state governments and private cargo operators. Lohani's panchayat and rural-governance background gives him limited direct prior exposure to inland shipping, and his early months in the post are likely to focus on briefings from IWAI's technical wing before he takes major project decisions.

Lohani's appointment is one of six changes in the same reshuffle order, which also moves Pallavi Jain Govil to Corporate Affairs, Deepti Gaur Mukerjee to Higher Education, V.L. Kantha Rao to the Department of Official Language, and Archana Varma into the Water Resources Secretary post. The waterways portfolio now passes to an officer whose administrative background lies mostly in rural and panchayat governance rather than transport infrastructure, a profile shift from his transport-sector predecessor.

The order, numbered 36/01/2026-EO(SM-I) and dated August 10, 2026, was issued by Manisha Saxena, Secretary, Appointments Committee of the Cabinet and Establishment Officer, with copies to the Cabinet Secretary and Chief Secretaries of all states.