After the announcement of a new Chairman for ONGC, now all eyes are on the appointment of new Chairman-cum-Managing Director, NTPC Limited. Eleven-year tenure of present incumbent Gurdeep Singh is coming to an end on January 31, 2027.  He is the longest serving CMD in the PSU sector.  

The Government of India is yet to declare a new CMD for NTPC through Search-cum-Selection Committee (SCSC) as Gurdeep Singh was appointed through the same channel in February, 2016.

It is reported that the Government of India may declare a new name at the eleventh hour of completion of his tenure in January 2027.  The Government is expected to announce a name for the successor to Gurdeep Singh either in December or January.

It sounds more interesting to recall the saga of appointment of CMD, NTPC.  As many as nine candidates including three in-house were short-listed for the post of CMD, NTPC to be interviewed by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) on December 21, 2016.

The short-listed candidates were: Kulamani Biswal, Director Finance, NTPC; one Gupta ED, NTPC; Saptarshi Roy, ED, NTPC; Alok Tandon (IAS: 1986 UP cadre); Tarun Kapoor (IAS: 1987 HP cadre); Pravin Sinha from Tata Power Consultancy, Rajiv Sharma, CMD, Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) Limited; Aman Kumar Singh, retired IRS officer; Gurdeep Singh, a technocrat from Gujarat.

Tarun Kapoor, who is presently Advisor to PMO, was also rejected by the PESB.

Gurdeep Singh, Managing Director of Gujarat State Electricity Company Limited, rejected by the PESB, was selected through a search committee route and became the first person appointed to the top job at a Maharatna company through this way.

After a gap of decade, the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) had again failed to find a suitable candidate for the post of Chairman-cum-Managing Director, NTPC Limited after interviewing as many as 12 candidates at the selection meeting held on May 21, 2025.

The candidates were: Shivam Srivastava, Director (Fuel) NTPC;  Bhupender Gupta, Director(Technical), THDC India Ltd; Ravindra Kumar, Director (Ope) Director, NTPC; Shaswattam, ED, NTPC; Somes Bandyopadhyay, MD , GSECL (on deputation from NTPC); Kapil Kumar Gupta, Director (Fin), MMTC Ltd; Mukesh Choudhary, Director(Marketing), CIL; Ajit Kumar Panda, Director (P&S), CONCOR; Thangarajan Subash Chandira Bosh, ED, REC; Rajil Srivastava, ED, Power Grid; Sanoj Kumar Jha, Additional Secretary Additional Secretary, Ministry of Coal and Abhay Arun Harne, Director, MSEB.

The Search-cum-Selection Committee (SCSC) recommended by the PESB and set up by the Ministry of Power interviewed more than one dozen candidates on July 4, 2026. The shortlisted candidates interviewed by the Search-cum-Selection Committee (SCSC) include: Shivam Srivastav, Director (Fuel), NTPC; Supendra Panda ED, Devashish Panda ED; Vijay Chand ED; Ashok Sahgal ED; Sarit Maheshwari ED; L K Behra ED; Ajay Kumar Shukla ED; Nitin Kulkarni ACS Jharkhand; Anuj Jain Director IOC; Manoj sharma ED IOC; Ajit  Thakur ED IOC; Hemant Rathor ED IOC; Atul Kumar Tripathi ED Gail; Pankaj Panda ED PGCIL; Hemant Das PFC ED; Kamlesh Kumar Jangid Director (Finance), Gujrat Urja Vikas Nigam and Dipesh Nanda, MD, Tata Power.

But, the Ministry of Power did not declare the name for the post despite having interviewed the shortlisted candidates on July 4, 2026.