Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dismissed Tobacco Board Chairman Koothati Gopal, angered by the chairman’s absence at key meetings on a domestic tobacco industry in crisis, The Times of India reported.

Gopal was attending a tobacco conference in Italy, a trip approved by the Ministry, the newspaper said on its website. His interim replacement is Santosh Sarangi, a Commerce Ministry joint secretary. Gopal had more than two years left in his term. His removal marked the first time a Tobacco Board chairman was removed in the middle of his term, The Times said.