14 executives eye top PFC post

Fourteen executives from NTPC, BHEL, NHPC and other state-run enterprises are in the race for the top post of Power Finance Corporation, the country's prime lender in power sector, which went public early this year.

Those in the fray include three Power Finance Corp officials believed to be among the front-runners for the post of the company's chairman and managing director, as the present chief V K Garg retires on July 31 next year.

Sources said Satnam Singh, PFC director (finance), M K Goel, director (institutional development and administration (IDA)) and Rajeev Sharma, executive director (HR, administration and projects) are among the top contenders for the PFC top job.

Goel took over as PFC director (IDA) from July 27 this year. Prior to this, he was executive director (projects) in the company. Sharma joined PFC in August 2005, while Singh joined in 1996 as deputy general manager of finance.

Others in the running include NTPC director (finance) A K Singhal and his counterpart in BHEL, C S Verma.

Raji Philip, CMD, Hindustan Paper Ltd, who is also said to have contended for CMD posts at BHEL and NTPC, would also appear for an interview for PFC's top job, to be conducted by Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) on January 21, 2008.

H K Sharma, Chairman and MD, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, A K Lomas, Mineral Exploration Corp, A K Srivastava, CMD, Cement Corp, S K Chaturvedi, Director (Personnel) NHPC and D S Chakravarty, director (finance), Engineers India Ltd would also take a shot at the top position of PFC. PFC made a stellar debut on the bourses early this year and got listed at a 22 % premium at Rs 104, against the issue price of Rs 85 per share.

Shares of the company were quoted at Rs 256.50, up 1.14 % on the Bombay Stock Exchange during morning trade.

The company was also conferred with the Navratna status this year.

Besides PFC, hunt for heads of two other power firms - NTPC, and PGCIL - has also begun. NTPC's T Sankaralingam and PGCIL's R P Singh are set to retire in April and July respectively next year.