India green lights restructuring of THDC, NEEPCO boards amid a push for expediting hydropower projects

Mint

21-07-2025

New Delhi: The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has green-lit a proposal to restructure the boards of NTPC subsidiaries THDC India Ltd (THDCIL) and North Eastern Electric Power Corp. Ltd (NEEPCO), making them 'leaner' amid a push for hydropower projects along India's eastern and north-western borders.
In a communication dated 18 July to the union ministry of power, reviewed by Mint, DPE agreed with the ministry's proposal for having a non-executive chairperson and re-designation of the post of managing director on the board of NEEPCO and THDCIL.
When implemented, the chairman and managing director of India's largest power generation utility NTPC Ltd will not have operational control of these strategic hydropower firms and will serve as their non-executive chairman.
The appointment of managing directors at THDC and NEEPCO would take place as per the guidelines of DPE, under the union ministry of finance, through the Public Enterprises Selection Board and Appointments Committee of the Union cabinet.
Currently, R.K. Vishnoi is the CMD of THDCIL, while the CMD of NTPC Gurdeep Singh holds additional charge as the CMD of NEEPCO.
Further, DPE has suggested further changes to the boards in order to make them "leaner" and "improve efficiency, coordination, and decision-making" and asked the power ministry to come up with a revised proposal.
The posts of directors—finance, technical and personnel—at THDC and NEEPCO would be abolished, but the director (finance) of NTPC will be present in all major board meetings concerning financial issues.
'Director (Finance) is an important post for exercise of delegated powers under the Miniratna scheme. As per DPE guidelines the Government Directors, the Director Finance and the concerned Functional Director(s) must be present when major decisions are taken, especially when they pertain to investments, expenditure or organizational/capital restructuring. As the post of Director (Finance) for NEEPCO and THDCIL is proposed to be abolished, Director (Finance) of NTPC should remain present in meetings related to major decisions in all important financial matters delegated to the board of NEEPCO & THDCIL are taken,' the communication said.
THDC, a joint venture of NTPC and the government of Uttar Pradesh has key hydro projects in Uttarakhand including the Tehri, Koteshwar and Vishnugad Pipalkoti projects along with other renewable and thermal projects in other parts of the country.
Established in July 1988 with the primary objective of developing, operating and maintaining the 2.4 GW Tehri Hydroelectric Project Complex, THDCIL currently has a 4.35 GW operational power generation capacity across energy sources.
Initially, the equity of the company was held in the ratio of 75:25 between the government of India and government of Uttar Pradesh. As a strategic disinvestment, NTPC Ltd took over the Centre's share on 25 March 2020. As a result, THDCIL became a subsidiary of NTPC, with equity now held by NTPC Ltd and the government of Uttar Pradesh in the ratio of 74.496% and 25.504%.
According to the company website, THDC India commenced commercial operation of Unit-I (660 MW) of Khurja Super Thermal Power Plant (2×660 MW) and Unit-I (250 MW) of Tehri PSP (Pump Storage Plant) (4×250 MW) in 2025.
NEECPO, incorporated in 1976 to plan, investigate, design, construct, generate, operate and maintain power stations in the north eastern region, operates six hydro, three thermal and one solar power plant with a combined installed capacity of 2.05 GW, spread across different states in the northeastern region.
NEEPCO commissioned its largest Hydro Project Kameng HPS (600 MW) in the north-east region in 2020-21. Since March 2020, the company has become a wholly owned subsidiary of NTPC.
In March 2020, NTPC had acquired Centre's stake in both the companies for about ₹ 11,500 crore.
The ministry of power had also suggested increasing the number of nominee directors of the government or NTPC to four from the current two. DPE, however, has suggested that the number should be at two.
"As per DPE guidelines, the number of nominee directors should be restricted to maximum of two or should not exceed one-sixth of the actual strength of the Board. NTPC is represented through chairperson and director (finance) would also be there on all important financial matters. Accordingly, Nominee Directors of NTPC on the board of NEEPCO & THDCIL may be discontinued and the government nominee directors from government of India and respective state governments should be continued," it said in the notification.
Further, DPE, which comes under the ministry of finance has agreed on reducing the number of independent directors from the current eight to three, even lower than the number suggested by the power ministry at six. It noted that the number of non official part-time directors or independent directors should be at least one-third of the actual strength of the board. and for Miniratna companies, boards should have at least three non-functional directors.
"As suggested above, NTPC would be represented through Chairperson. Director (Finance), NTPC must be present when major decisions are taken, especially when they pertain to investments, expenditure or organizational/capital restructuring. Nominee Directors of NTPC on the board of NEEPCO & THDCIL are suggested to be discontinued," it said.
DPE in its notification said that the ministry of power, NEEPCO and THDCIL should reconsider this composition in the light of the existing DPE guidelines.
"With regards to the current incumbents holding board positions, the Ministry may take such decisions as it deems appropriate. MoP is requested to submit a revised proposal as per suggestions given above," the notification said.
As per the suggestions made by the DPE, the total strength of the board would be seven members, down from the current 14.
The move comes at a time when the government is looking at enhancing the hydro power capacity in the country, more so in the border states.
Queries sent to the department of public enterprises and the ministry of power, NTPC, THDCIL and NEEPCO remained unanswered till press time.