Government posts ad in The Economist for NTPC CMD post

IN A rare and first of its kind move, Union Power Ministry has posted an ad in The Economist in its search for global talents to head NTPC. You search for past vacancies on The Economist’s jobs board, and you will come across an opening for chairman and managing director (CMD) at India’s top state-run power generator NTPC. In a rare attempt to woo global talents to head the Maharatna PSU, an attempt under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effort to...
bolster their performance and spur economic growth. The basic annual pay for the post is mentioned as less than $24,000.
Other criteria in the local version of the advertisement betray some of the legacy of byzantine state planning, such as a stipulation the post holder must be 45-58 years old. Even so, the posting on The Economist’s website by the power ministry is another indication of Modi’s desire to inject private-sector know-how into sprawling government companies, which span industries ranging from energy exploration to watchmaking.
“I don’t remember having seen the government advertising in an international publication for a position in a public-sector undertaking,” U.D. Choubey, director general at the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises, a New Delhi-based body representing PSUs was quoted as saying in a national financial daily.
The administration last year threw open the position of CMD at state-run Coal India Ltd, the world’s biggest coal producer to private-sector candidates. The job was eventually taken by Sutirtha Bhattacharya, a former bureaucrat who had been leading Singareni Collieries Co., which is owned by the federal government and a local authority.
The Power Ministry has reached out to the global top honchos via The Economist magazine to head Maharatna PSU NTPC. Recently the Ministry posted an advertisement in the global magazine. NTPC was incorporated in November, 1975 with the mission to develop and provide reliable power, related projects and services at competitive prices, integrating multiple energy sources with innovative and eco-friendly technologies and contribute to society. It is a Schedule 'A' Maharatna listed CPSE in Power Sector under the administrative control of Ministry of Power. NTPC is professionally managed power utility having national and international reputation.
The ad was posted on October 13 and it is closing on November 13, after one month.
The CMD is the Chief Executive of the Corporation and accountable to the Board of Directors and Government. He is responsible for the efficient functioning of the Corporation for achieving its corporate objectives and performance parameters.
NTPC’s former chairman, Arup Roy Choudhury, earned about Rs.50 lakh in the year ended 31 March when incentives and other allowances were added to basic pay. That still leaves a wide gap to senior positions in the non-state sector.
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.
(Here is the advertisement http://jobs.economist.com/job/11079/appointment-of-chairman-and-managing-director-ntpc-limited/)