On December 31, current Railway Board Chairman and CEO V K Tripathi will step down. The appointment of Lahoti has been approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After the government announced the creation of the integrated railway service, Indian Railway Management Service, this is the first appointment of the Railway Board's chairman (IRMS).

Lahoti is a member of the 1984 batch of Indian Railways Services of Engineers. He formerly held the position of general manager for Western Railways. He has previously worked for Indian Railways' Nagpur, Jabalpur, and Bhusaval divisions in a variety of jobs. Lahoti, a native of Guna in Madhya Pradesh, obtained a Master of Engineering degree from IIT Roorkee (structures).