About the Minister

Minister of State for Civil Aviation (Independent Charge) Praful Patel, currently in his second term in the Union Government, has single-handedly spearheaded reforms in the Indian aviation sector. Development of the Delhi and Mumbai airports under Public Private Partnership model, liberal policies on setting up new airports, raising the FDI cap in airlines, merger of Air India with Indian Airlines and fleet augmentation for the national carriers - Minister Praful Patel has been the key architect of change in the Indian 'open skies'.
Born in 1957 in Calcutta, Mr Patel graduated from the University of Bombay, and was elected to the office of President -- Municipal Council of Gondia (Maharashtra), early on in his distinguished career. Patel was first elected as a member of the Lok Sabha in 1991 at the age of 34. He is currently a member of the 15th Lok Sabha. He is also a very successful industrialist.

Key highlights of Praful Patel's career:


1985-91 President, Municipal Council, Gondia (Maharashtra)
1991 Elected to 10th Lok Sabha
1991-96 Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Environment and Forests
1994-95 Member, Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests
1995-96 Member, Committee on Home Affairs
1996 Re-elected to 11th Lok Sabha (2nd term)
1996-97 Member, Committee on Finance
1998 Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (3rd term); Member, Executive Committee, Congress Parliamentary Party (C.P.P.)
1998-99 Member, Committee on Finance; Member, Committee on Official Language; Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment; Special Invitee, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Civil Aviation
2001-06 Member of Rajya Sabha
2006-09 Re-elected as Member of Rajya Sabha
2009 Re-elected to 15th Lok Sabha (4th term)
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Civil Aviation since May 2004

Social and Cultural Activities:


President of All India Football Federation
President, Gondia Education Society, Gondia, Distt. Bhandara, Maharashtra; the society manages 25 colleges and 50 high schools, where nearly 75000 students are studying