The Karnataka government has appointed senior IAS officer J. Ravishankar as the new Managing Director of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL). The 2001-batch officer succeeds M. Maheshwar Rao, who had been holding the post as an additional charge since April 2025, following his appointment as Chief Commissioner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Ravishankar, a dental surgery graduate with over two decades of administrative experience, was serving as Secretary in the Agriculture Department before his latest appointment. Over the course of his career, he has held several significant roles in the state bureaucracy.
These include stints as Excise Commissioner and Secretary in departments such as Housing, Planning, Programme Monitoring and Statistics, and Municipal Administration. He has also served as Deputy Commissioner in multiple districts including Raichur, Mandya, Kolar, and Belagavi.
His appointment comes at a crucial juncture for Namma Metro, which is undergoing a major phase of expansion. The long-awaited Yellow Line, which will link RV Road to Bommasandra, is scheduled to become operational by August 2025. With multiple infrastructure projects lined up, Ravishankar’s leadership is expected to play a vital role in pushing forward the timelines and execution of these urban mobility initiatives.
