Senior IAS officer Iqbal Singh Chahal (IAS:1989:MH) has been appointed Chairman of the Mumbai Police Housing Township Project with the rank of Minister of State. He will assume charge on February 1, 2026, for a tenure of five years.
The appointment marks a post-retirement role for Chahal and makes him the second senior bureaucrat in the Maharashtra government to be given Minister of State rank after retirement. Earlier, Praveen Pardeshi was appointed Chief Economic Adviser to the Chief Minister and Chief Executive Officer of the Maharashtra Institution for Transformation.
The Mumbai Police Housing Township Project is a state government initiative aimed at providing residential housing for Mumbai Police personnel and their families. The project focuses on improving housing availability for police staff and supporting operational requirements of the force.
Born on January 20, 1966, Chahal is a 1989-batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre and holds a degree in electronics engineering. During his career, he has held several administrative positions at the state and central levels, including District Collector of Thane and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Joint Secretary in the Ministries of Home Affairs, Women and Child Development, and Panchayati Raj, and Principal Secretary in the Water Resources and Urban Development Departments of Maharashtra.
From 2020 to 2024, Chahal served as Municipal Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, where he oversaw the city’s administrative response during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2024, he has been serving as Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Maharashtra.
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Chahal was considered for the post of Maharashtra Chief Secretary on multiple occasions. Following the retirement of Sujata Saunik in June 2025, he was among the officers under consideration but Rajesh Kumar Meena was appointed. After Meena’s tenure ended, Chahal again featured in the shortlist, but Rajesh Aggarwal was brought back from central deputation and appointed Chief Secretary in November 2025. Several officers from the 1990 batch were also affected by these decisions.
During his tenure in the Water Resources Department, Maharashtra received the National Water Award in 2018 and 2019. His work during the COVID-19 period, including ward-level administrative coordination and oxygen supply management, was referred to in judicial proceedings related to pandemic management.
As chairman of the Mumbai Police Housing Township Project, Chahal will oversee planning and execution of housing infrastructure intended for Mumbai Police personnel.
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