Dilip Kumar Ray

Dilip Ray is an Indian politician and hotelier from the state of Odisha. He is a member of parliament from Odisha and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was formerly Union Minister of Steel, Coal and Parliamentary Affairs. He Was Also A Minister In Second Biju Patnaik ministry. He is the founder and CMD of Mayfair Group of Hotels, largely based in eastern India.

Political career Ray was elected as the chairman of the then Rourkela Notified Council in 1985. 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.

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 role in the foundation of the Biju Janata Dal. Ray considered Biju Patnaik his mentor and 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, asked him to take the leadership of the party, but he declined and requested someone from the family take the position.

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

He was elected from Rajya Sabha in 2026, after being supported by Bharatiya Janata Party.

Positions held

Chairman, Rourkela Municipality Member, Odisha Legislative Assembly (1985–1990) Member, Odisha Legislative Assembly (1990–1995) Minister of State, Industries (15 Mar 1990 – 24 Jul 1990) Minister of State, Industries, excluding textiles and handlooms (24 Jul 1990 – 2 Jan 1991) Minister, Industries, excluding textiles and handlooms (2 Jan 1991 – 15 Mar 1995) Elected to Rajya Sabha (1996–2002) Union MoS (I/C) of the Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairying Union MoS (I/C) of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries Union MoS (I/C) of the Ministry of Coal Union MoS of Parliamentary Affairs Union MoS of Ministry of Steel Elected to Rajya Sabha for the second term (2002–2008) Member, Consultative Committee for the Civil Aviation Member, Committee on Labour and Welfare Member Committee on Labour Member, Odisha Legislative Assembly (2014–2019) Elected to Rajya Sabha (2026–present)

Rajya Sabha Election History