Mugdha Sinha appointed as MD of India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC)
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Prior to this, Sinha held the position of Director General, Tourism in the Ministry of Tourism — also an Additional Secretary-level role. She was empanelled for this senior rank in May last year.
Senior bureaucrat and former DG Tourism, Mugdha Sinha, has been appointed as the Managing Director of India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC). A 1999-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, Sinha will serve in the rank and pay scale of an Additional Secretary to the Government of India, as per the official notice.
Prior to this, Sinha held the position of Director General, Tourism in the Ministry of Tourism — also an Additional Secretary-level role. She was empanelled for this senior rank in May last year. Before this, she also headed the GLAM Division as the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Culture where she conceived and successfully organised three back to back Mega Events- The International Museum Expo (IME) The Festival of Libraries (FOL) and the India Art Architecture, Design Biennale, (IAADB).
Mugdha Sinha has held significant positions in the domains of Culture and Science & Technology in Rajasthan, including serving as the Director General of Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK), Jaipur, during the pandemic. Her innovative leadership at the intersection of science and the arts led to the pioneering of Astro Night Sky Tourism, a unique concept that gained widespread popularity in Rajasthan and inspired similar initiatives across other states and private sectors. This movement eventually contributed to the declaration of Hanle in Ladakh as India’s first Dark Sky Reserve. During the lockdown, she also initiated the crowdsourcing of an artist database, creating an e-platform that enabled performance-based financial assistance. This ensured that artists could continue to work and sustain themselves without compromising their dignity during a time of immense hardship.
As per Sinha, her only aspiration as a civil servant, ‘is to make the interface with the government a pleasant experience for the citizens.’
With her new appointment, Sinha follows in the footsteps of another Rajasthan cadre officer, Lalit K. Panwar (1979 batch), who previously served as Secretary of Tourism at the Centre and also headed ITDC as both Managing Director and Chairman-cum-Managing Director.
India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Tourism, was established on October 1, 1966. ITDC has been instrumental in shaping India’s tourism infrastructure and hospitality services over the decades.
ITDC’s current portfolio includes three Ashok Group hotels, one joint venture hotel, one standalone restaurant, five Ashok Travel & Tours (ATT) units, and 14 duty-free shops at various seaports.