C.M Dutta born in Delhi in March, 1946, graduated from Delhi College of Engineering in 1967 in Mechanical Engineering. After graduation, he completed PG Diploma in Public Administration from Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. Over the years, he continued his study and completed Certificate in German language from University of Delhi, qualified as lead Assessor for ISO-9000.

Dutta joined Indian Railways Service of Mechanical Engineers in 1968. Over the years, he worked in different capacities in various organizations of Indian Railways as Assistant Mechanical Engineer, Deputy Chief Mechanical Engineer, etc.

In 1991, he was posted as Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Western Railway, Ratlam, where he was looking after mechanical, electrical, personnel, safety, telecommunication deptts., specific areas of customer services, industrial relations and energy conservation.

In 1992, he had been given the charge of Chief Mechanical Engineer (Quality Assurance) in Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala where his responsibilities included assuring quality of bought outs and inhouse production of 1000 coaches annually. In April 1995, he was given the charge of Chief Workshop Manager of Jagadhari and Charbagh Workshops of Northern Railway and he was responsible for overall management of the workshops for repair and manufacture of Railway's diesel and electric locos, coaches and wagons, their sub-assemblies and components.

In September, 1995 he was posted as Chief Mechanical Engineer in Central Organisation for Modernisation of Workshops (COFMOW), New Delhi where he was responsible for procurement of wide variety of machinery and plants for Railway workshops and Polytechnics under Ministry of Human Resource Development following World Bank procedures. Responsibilities included preparation of bid documents, technical evaluation for procurement of different high technology machineries and plants for Indian Railways and Production Units worth Rs. 80 crores annually. In June 1998, he was posted as Chief Mechanical Engineer (Planning) in Northern Railway, New Delhi and his responsibilities included formulation, design and site selection, monitoring / execution of various projects for construction of workshops and maintenance depots of Northern Railway. He designed the modern Wagon Maintenance Depot at Tuglakabad, New Delhi. In August, 2001, he was given the charge of Chief Workshop Engineer of Northern Railway, New Delhi.

In November, 2002 he was posted as Chief Mechanical Engineer in Diesel Loco Modernisation Works, Patiala. He was in-charge of planning, production, quality control and maintenance functions of a factory engaged in production of diesel engine components with an annual turnover of Rs.250 crores ($ 60 million). In December, 2003 he was posted as Senior Executive Director in Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow where he was responsible for design and development of wagons and their components after laboratory test and field trials (freight cars, bogies, couplers, brake systems, springs, etc. for Indian Railways). Presently he is working as Chief Administrative Officer in COFMOW since July, 2005. Being the head of the organization, he is his responsible for procurement of diverse equipments for Indian Railways worth Rs. 150 crores ($ 40 million) annually. He is assisted by a team of 30 technical, finance, stores, personnel and administrative officers. He has been granted patent for a "Mechanised Lubricator Push Trolley" for greasing of inner faces of rails for energy conservation. He has also been granted patents for "Abnormal Riding Detector" for minimizing damages due to derailments of rail vehicles.

Dutta has published many papers in his career which include :

•  "Traction forces in double headed passenger trains' - Rail International, Nov'83;

•  "Causes of failure of BOX wagon springs and their remedies" - Spring Seminar held in Aug'83 at Eastern Railway, Kolkata;

•  "Accidents and their effect on performance of Indian Railways" - Journal of Institute of Rail Transport, New Delhi (April - June, 1993);