Trai may rope in Mehrotra as member

KOLKATA: Former Tata Teleservices regulatory affairs chief R Mehrotra is likely to be appointed whole-time member of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). The apex search panel that includes DoT secretary PJ Thomas is slated to issue a notification soon.

“Mr Mehrotra is a front-runner for the Trai member’s slot which fell vacant last February. Others in the race are DoT’s former wireless advisor PK Garg and ex-member (services) in the Telecom Commission, GS Grover,” said a senior government official with direct knowledge of the matter.

If this indeed happens, Mr Mehrotra will be the first high-profile executive from the private sector to enter the Trai top deck. Till date, they have all been officers of the Indian Telecom Service (ITS) cadre. He will work closely with Trai chairman J Sarma and member (finance) R Ashok.

Mr Mehrotra is slated to step into the shoes of former Trai whole-time member RN Prabhakar, who retired on February 26. Prior to his stint at Trai, Mr Prabhakar, an ITS officer, was ex-DoT advisor and member (production) in the Telecom Commission.