Dilip Ray

{{short description|Indian Politician}} {{Distinguish|Dilipkumar Roy}} {{Use British English|date=October 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Dilip Ray | occupation = Politician <br/> Hotelier | birth_date = {{Birth date and age |1954|01|09|df=y}} | birth_place = Rourkela, Orissa, India | office = Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | constituency = Odisha | term_start = 3 April 2026 | predecessor = Niranjan Bishi | office1 = Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Steel | term_start1 = 13 October 1999 | term_end1 = 27 May 2000 | prime_minister1 = Atal Bihari Vajpayee | predecessor1 = Naveen Patnaik | successor1 = Braja Kishore Tripathy | office2 = Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Coal | term_start2 = 20 March 1998 | term_end2 = 13 October 1999 | prime_minister2 = Atal Bihari Vajpayee | predecessor2 = Inder Kumar Gujral | successor2 = ''Ministry abolished'' | office3 = Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Food Processing Industries | term_start3 = 6 July 1996 | term_end3 = 25 December 1997 | prime_minister3 = H. D. Deve Gowda<br/>Inder Kumar Gujral | predecessor3 = H. D. Deve Gowda | successor3 = Jaipal Reddy | office4 = Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Animal Husbandry and Dairying | term4 = 29 June 1996{{ndash}}6 July 1996 | prime_minister4 = H. D. Deve Gowda | successor4 = Raghuvansh Prasad Singh }} '''Dilip Ray''' (born 9 January 1954) is an Indian politician and hotelier from the state of Odisha. He is currently serving as a member of parliament from Odisha.<ref name="Pragativadi2026">{{cite web |last=Rout |first=Yajati |url=https://pragativadi.com/odisha-rajya-sabha-election-results-2026-bjp-wins-3-seats-including-independent-dilip-ray-bjds-santrupt-mishra-wins-amid-cross-voting/ |title=Odisha Rajya Sabha Election Results 2026: BJP Wins 3 Seats Including Independent Dilip Ray; BJD's Santrupt Mishra Wins Amid Cross-Voting |website=Pragativadi |date=16 March 2026 |access-date=3 April 2026}}</ref> He was formerly Union Minister of Steel, Coal and Parliamentary Affairs. Ray is the only Odia parliamentarian to be part of the Ministry of three Prime Ministers. He is the founder and CMD of Mayfair Group of Hotels, largely based in eastern India.

==Early life==

Ray was born on 9 January 1954 to Hrushikesh Ray and Kalyani Ray. He completed his matriculation in 1969 from Raj Kumar College, Raipur and graduated from St Joseph College, Darjeeling in 1974. Sri Ray then enrolled in JCC College of Law, Kolkata where he completed his law degree in 1976 and then completed his MBA from Academy of Management Science and Studies in 1977.

==Political career==

He started his political journey in 1985 when he was elected as the chairman of the then Rourkela Notified Council. In the same year he was elected as MLA from Rourkela Constituency (1985–90) and was re-elected again in the year 1990. He served as Minister of Industries in the Janata Dal Government (1990–95) which was headed by Biju Patnaik.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://odishaassembly.nic.in/image.aspx?img=552|title=Odisha Assembly}}</ref>

Ray was nominated to the upper house of Parliament, i.e., Rajya Sabha in 1996 and continued to be the member of the house for two consecutive terms (1996–2002; 2002–2008). As a parliamentarian, he held several ministry portfolios and was a member of different parliamentary committees.

He also played a notable role in the foundation of the Biju Janata Dal. Ray considered Biju Patnaik his mentor and his closeness with him can be gauged from the fact that Biju spent the last years of his life with him. During his last days, Biju Patnaik had expressed his desire to form a regional party for which he had consultations with several national leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, and Pramod Mahajan but could not effectuate it because of his untimely demise.

After the death of Biju Patnaik, Ray and along with other Janata Dal leaders founded Biju Janata Dal. When the party came into existence, Gyan Patnaik, wife of Biju Patnaik, insisted he take up the leadership of the party, but he declined to do so and requested someone from the family to take up this position.

He was also a sitting member of Odisha Legislative Assembly representing Rourkela Assembly constituency before he left politics for some time in the year 2018.

A Special CBI court on 6 October 2020 convicted Dilip Ray, the then Union Minister of State for coal in the government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999, for his alleged involvement in the coal block allocation scandal.

He was elected from Rajya Sabha in 2026, after being supported by Bharatiya Janata Party.<ref name="Pragativadi2026">{{cite web |last=Rout |first=Yajati |url=https://pragativadi.com/odisha-rajya-sabha-election-results-2026-bjp-wins-3-seats-including-independent-dilip-ray-bjds-santrupt-mishra-wins-amid-cross-voting/ |title=Odisha Rajya Sabha Election Results 2026: BJP Wins 3 Seats Including Independent Dilip Ray; BJD's Santrupt Mishra Wins Amid Cross-Voting |website=Pragativadi |date=16 March 2026 |access-date=3 April 2026}}</ref>

==Other information==

Ray has traveled to over twenty countries across the globe and his other hobbies include interior decoration and gardening. His promotion of Odia culture and dialect is evidenced by his hiring practices - 80% of the employees of the group founded by him are from Odisha.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mayfairhotels.com/management.html|title=Mayfair Hotels}}</ref>

==Positions held==

1) Chairman, Rourkela Municipality

2) Member, Odisha Legislative Assembly (1985–1990)

3) Member, Odisha Legislative Assembly (1990–1995)

4) Minister of State, Industries (15 Mar 1990 – 24 Jul 1990)

5) Minister of State, Industries, excluding textiles and handlooms (24 Jul 1990 – 2 Jan 1991)

6) Minister, Industries, excluding textiles and handlooms (2 Jan 1991 – 15 Mar 1995)

7) Elected to Rajya Sabha (1996–2002)

8) Union MoS (I/C) of the Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairying

9) Union MoS (I/C) of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries

10) Union MoS (I/C) of the Ministry of Coal

11) Union MoS of Parliamentary Affairs

12) Union MoS of Ministry of Steel

13) Elected to Rajya Sabha for the second term (2002–2008)

14) Member, Consultative Committee for the Civil Aviation

15) Member, Committee on Labour and Welfare

16) Member Committee on Labour

17) Member, Odisha Legislative Assembly (2014–2019)

18) Elected to Rajya Sabha (2026–present)

==References== <references />

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070612034051/http://164.100.24.167:8080/members/website/Mainweb.asp?mpcode=236 Profile on Rajya Sabha website] * [http://mayfairhotels.com Mayfair Hotels]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Dilip}} Category:1954 births Category:Rajya Sabha members from Odisha Category:Living people Category:21st-century Indian politicians Category:People from Rourkela Category:Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Odisha Category:Biju Janata Dal politicians