The Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) on Wednesday announced that none of the dozen candidates interviewed for the role of chairman and managing director (CMD) of NTPC, India’s largest power producer, were found suitable. This marks another setback for the government’s efforts to fill top positions at public sector undertakings (PSUs).
The incumbent CMD, Gurdeep Singh, is set to retire on July 31, and the search for his successor has hit a roadblock. Half of the candidates interviewed were current directors on the boards of NTPC and other state-owned companies. However, PESB did not recommend any candidate for appointment and advised the Administrative Ministry to decide on further steps, including potentially appointing a search-cum-selection committee (SCSC) for the process.
NTPC is the latest in a string of bluechip PSUs where PESB has struggled to find suitable leadership. Since 2021, the board has failed to recommend candidates for CMD posts at several other major PSUs, including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL).
The search-cum-selection committee method, which allows greater flexibility by considering candidates beyond the PSU ecosystem, has often been used when PESB’s selection process falls short. Incidentally, Gurdeep Singh himself was appointed NTPC CMD through such a committee in 2016.
PESB is a statutory body under the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) responsible for recommending candidates for top management roles in central PSUs. Its process involves shortlisting candidates based on merit, seniority, and experience, followed by interviews. The limited candidate pool and rigid selection criteria have often been cited as challenges in finding suitable leaders.
Among those interviewed for the NTPC post were NTPC directors Shivam Srivastava (Fuel) and Ravindra Kumar (Operations), Bhupendra Kumar (Operations) of THDC India Ltd, Mukesh Choudhary (Marketing) of Coal India Ltd, Kapil Kumar Gupta (Finance) of MMTC, Ajit Kumar Panda (Project & Services) of Container Corporation of India Ltd, and Somes Bandyopadhyar, Managing Director of Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL). Additionally, Sanoj Kumar Jha, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Coal, appeared for the interview.
This is not the first time PESB has failed to find suitable candidates for PSU top jobs recently. On February 1, the board interviewed a dozen candidates for the CMD position at BPCL but did not recommend anyone. The post remains vacant after the retirement of G Krishnakumar on April 30, with senior officials temporarily handling the responsibilities.
Similarly, in May 2023, PESB did not recommend anyone for the CMD post at Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). The appointment was then made through a search-cum-selection committee, which chose Arvindar Singh Sahney as chairman in November 2024.
In June last year, PESB rejected all eight candidates interviewed for the CMD position at HPCL. Subsequently, Vikar Kaushal was appointed via a search-cum-selection committee.
In 2021, PESB also failed to find a suitable candidate for the ONGC top post, which was filled a year later by Arun Kumar Singh through the search-cum-selection process.
As the government continues to face challenges in appointing leadership to key PSUs, reliance on the more flexible search-cum-selection committees appears to be increasing. Meanwhile, NTPC awaits the appointment of a new chairman and managing director ahead of Gurdeep Singh’s retirement.