Fadnavis appoints Mumbai Metro chief Ashwini Bhide principal secretary in CMO

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday appointed Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) chief Ashwini Bhide as principal secretary in the CM secretariat

MUMBAI: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday appointed Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) chief Ashwini Bhide as principal secretary in the CM secretariat. This is the first time a woman IAS officer will be working in the CM office. Bhide, an IAS officer of the 1995 batch, has been largely working on urban infrastructure of Mumbai for many years now.

  Mumbai, India. Sep 24, 2024: Photoshoot with Managing Director of Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (MMRC) Ashwini Bhide at MMRC head office in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), Mumbai. Mumbai, India. Sep 24, 2024. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Hindustan Times)

Bhide (55) headed the MMRC from January 5, 2015, to January 23, 2020. The MMRC has been given the task of completing Metro 3 from SEEPZ to Navy Nagar.

In his first stint as CM, Fadnavis had appointed Bhide to complete the Mumbai Metro. While doing the spadework for the city’s only underground metro route, she faced resistance over building the metro car shed at Aarey Milk Colony. However, she managed to push through the project, with Fadnavis solidly backing the plan.

She was transferred to the Mumbai civic body with the change in the government but was brought back to head the MMRC with the change in the government in June 2022. Bhide also worked in MMRDA as additional commissioner from 2008 to 2014, where she got her first lessons on infra development.

Though she will be taking the place of principal secretary Brijesh Singh in the CMO, Bhide will be continuing as the MMRC chief. The phase 1 of Metro 3 project was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi prior to the elections and the rest of the phases are likely to be opened to public by July 2025.

At present, the CM secretariat is headed by additional chief secretary Vikas Kharge. Fadnavis has also appointed Shrikar Pardeshi as secretary.