Who will be the next NTPC CMD?

WHO will be the next chairman of NTPC, country's largest power producer? This is the big question hitting national media with the government expressing its keenness to have an engineering graduate to take over as the next chairman. But the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) lobby is also pushing for this clause to be removed.

A search committee...

constituted for the job, led by power secretary Pradeep Kumar Pujari, is currently entertaining applications only from candidates holding engineering degrees, a leading financial daily reported. This renders most IAS officers ineligible for the post.

Atanu Chakraborty, a 1985 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer and an engineering bachelor, is considered a frontrunner to for the post.

With specialization in electronics and communication engineering, Chakraborty even completed his post graduate diploma in business finance and subsequently MBA from the UK in business administration.

Currently, Chakraborty is serving as the managing director at Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

Chakraborty has served as managing director at Gujarat State Financial Services, CEO at Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board, CE .

He has also served as a joint secretary at the Union finance ministry.

Another person who is also in the race for the top post in NTPC is ICP Keshari, a 1988 batch IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, who is serving as a special commissioner at the joint secretary level in the Madhya Pradesh government.

Keshari, however, said he has not applied for the post.

The committee is also scouting for candidates from the private sector and names of a few large private power company executives are also doing the rounds.

Arup Roy Chowdhury, who served as the chairman of NTPC for the last five years, retired on August 31 after the NDA government denied him an extension. A K Jha, director, technical, at NTPC, has taken over additional charge of the post of chairman and managing director.
Roy Chowdhury was the second PSU head who was not allowed to continue till retirement after completing a five-year term. Earlier on June 11, the government had denied extension to CS Verma as head of Maharatna PSU Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
Roy Choudhury completed his five-year term on August 31 but he was due to retire in December 2016.