PESB Fails to Find Suitable Candidate for NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Position

Strategic Insights -

The Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) has 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. The PESB's failure to find a suitable candidate is not an isolated incident, as the board has struggled to recommend candidates for CMD posts at several other major PSUs since 2021.

Key Takeaways:

  • The PESB has failed to recommend any candidate for the CMD position at NTPC, with half of the interviewed candidates being current directors on the boards of NTPC and other state-owned companies.
  • This marks the latest setback for the government's efforts to fill top positions at public sector undertakings (PSUs), with PESB struggling to find suitable candidates for CMD posts at several major PSUs since 2021.
  • The search-cum-selection committee (SCSC) method has often been used when PESB's selection process falls short, and is being increasingly relied upon by the government to appoint leadership to key PSUs.
  • Incidentally, Gurdeep Singh himself was appointed NTPC CMD through a search-cum-selection committee in 2016.
  • The PESB's process involves shortlisting candidates based on merit, seniority, and experience, followed by interviews, but has been criticized for having a limited candidate pool and rigid selection criteria.
  • The interviewed candidates for the NTPC post included several senior officials from state-owned companies, including Shivam Srivastava, Ravindra Kumar, and Sanoj Kumar Jha.
  • This is not the first time PESB has failed to find suitable candidates for PSU top jobs recently, with the board failing to recommend candidates for CMD positions at BPCL, IOC, and HPCL in the past year.
  • The appointment of leadership to key PSUs is becoming increasingly reliant on the more flexible search-cum-selection committees, which allow for the consideration of candidates beyond the PSU ecosystem.

Statistics:

  • Since 2021, the PESB has failed to recommend candidates for CMD posts at several 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 (SCSC) method has been used to appoint leadership to key PSUs on at least four occasions since 2021, including the appointment of Arun Kumar Singh as ONGC CMD in 2022.
  • The PESB has a statutory responsibility to recommend candidates for top management roles in central PSUs, but has been criticized for its limited candidate pool and rigid selection criteria.
  • Gurdeep Singh is set to retire as NTPC CMD on July 31, with the post remaining vacant until a new chairman is appointed.

Sources:

  • The Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB)
  • The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT)
  • The Ministry of Coal
  • India Today
  • Business Standard
  • IE Online Media Services Pvt. Ltd. (2025)
  • Contify.com