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Gurdeep Singh takes charge as NTPC CMD

Gurdeep Singh, 51, joined as NTPC CMD in New Delhi on Thursday. A Mechanical Engineer by profession, he has over 28 years of experience in power generation sector. 

He started his career with NTPC Lts and has worked at various level in both Indian and multinational corporations, namely Powergen, CLP, IDFC, CESC and AES. 

He has worked in different areas of the power sector, ranging from business development, projects and operations. Prior to joining NTPC, Singh was Managing Director, Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited. Gurdeep Singh is the first person to be appointed to the top job at a Maharatna company through a search committee route.

Government headhunters, Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) normally selects board appointees to state-owned firms but in case of NTPC a Search-cum-Selection Committee was constituted after Arup Roy Choudhury was denied an extension of service in August.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the appointment of Singh for a period of five years from the date of assumption of charge of the post, official sources said. Singh was selected after the Committee headed by PESB chairman Ajit Seth interviewed eight shortlisted candidates out of a list of 24 who had applied for the job. 

The post of chairman and managing director at NTPC fell vacant after Choudhury completed his five year term on 31 August last year. He was appointed as head of India’s largest power producer by the UPA government in September 2010 for five years, which was extendable till he attains retirement age of 60 years. 

He was to achieve the retirement age in December 2016. After his exit, A K Jha, director (Technical), NTPC was given additional charge of the post of CMD. 

Chowdhury was the second PSU head who was not allowed to continue till retirement after completing a five-year term. Earlier in June, the government had denied extension to C S Verma as head of Maharatna PSU Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL). 
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