Board of Directors

Mr. R. V. Shahi – Chairman

Mr. Shahi held the position of Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Power for nearly five years from April 2002 to January 2007. In this position, he was responsible for policy initiatives and implementation for the entire Power Sector (1,68,000 MW capacity) in India. During his tenure, the Indian Power Sector went through a major restructuring with the institution of the Electricity Act, 2003 and subsequent National Electricity Policy, 2005 and National Tariff Policy, 2006. Other major initiatives launched include the Accelerated Power Development & Reform Programme (2002), Rural Electrification Policy (2005), Ultra Mega Power Policy (2006) and Merchant Power Policy (2006).

Mr. Shahi was also directly responsible for the long-term planning and operational performance of the Central Public Sector Undertakings viz. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd, Tehri Hydro Development Corporation, Power Finance Corporation, Rural Electrification Corporation, Bhakra Beas Management Board and Damodar Valley Corporation. He was also President of the Governing Council of Central Power Research Institute, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Bureau of Energy Efficiency and Chairman of the Governing Council of National Power Training Institute having 5 large Training Institutes in various parts of the country.

Mr. Shahi's academic qualifications include Graduation (Mechanical Engineering), Post Graduation (Industrial Engineering), Post Graduation (Business Management) and Diploma in Advanced Industrial Management (Delft, Holland). He is a Fellow of the World Academy of Productivity Sciences. He is a Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India), a Fellow of International Institute of Electrical Engineers, and a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering.

Prior to his appointment as Secretary, Mr. Shahi was Chairman and Managing Director of BSES Ltd from 1994 to 2002. Earlier, for over 16 years, he was with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) holding various positions between 1978 and 1994. These included General Manager in charge of Dadri Power Project; Executive Director in charge of Southern Region of NTPC, and finally Member on the Board of Directors of NTPC in-charge of Operations, R&D and Commercial functions. Prior to this, Mr. Shahi worked for over 10 years with Hindustan Steel Ltd / Steel Authority of India.

He was Chairman or Member on Boards of various companies, as also in the Audit Committees of the Boards, during different periods (1991 - 2002), including member on the Board and Audit Committee of Power Grid Corporation of India. He was Chairman of World Energy Council- Indian Member Committee (WEC-IMC) during April, 2002 to January, 2007. Member (2003 - 2006) on the Policy Group of Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF), a US led global initiative; Member (2005 - 2006) on the Govt. Steering Committee for the US led global initiative on Zero Emission Future Generation Project. He has been closely associated with industry bodies such as Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industries (FICCI), Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) as Member or Chairman of various Committees. He was also a member on more than sixteen Committees and Organizations covering diverse topics related to Energy, Environment, Human Resource Development and Education. In 2006, he was made Chairman of the Government of India's Working Group on Power for Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12). He is on the Boards of Governors of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow, Management Development Institute(MDI) Gurgaon, and Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneshwar.

Mr. A.K. Purwar – Director

Mr. A.K. Purwar is having about 40 years of experience in Banking Industry. He has done Masters Degree in Commerce from Allahabad University in 1966 and a Diploma in Business Administration in 1967. During his career, Purwar held several important positions covering the whole gamut of commercial banking operations. Mr. Purwar has served State Bank of India as chairman for over three years, the longest term for any head, as compared to the terms of most chiefs since the mid-90s that ranged from two months to two-and-a-half years.

As Chief Executive Officer of the Tokyo Branch of State Bank of India from September 1995 to June 1998, he had arranged syndication of foreign currency loans and structured large profitable deals with KEXIM of South Korea.

Mr. Purwar was appointed, as the Managing Director of State Bank of Patiala in December, 2000 and was responsible for the integration of its treasury operations, computerization of all branches and for product innovation.

Mr. Purwar took charge at the helm of SBI in November 2002. Under his leadership, the Bank had taken giant strides in technological innovations. All the 13800+ branches of the group were fully computerized by 2004.

Dr. Devi Singh – Director

Dr. Devi Singh assumed charge as Director, Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow in August, 2003. Before joining IIM, Lucknow, he was Director of Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon for about four years. He is a well-known Professor in the area of International Finance & Management. During his tenure, MDI was one of the fastest growing Business Schools in India and had been consistently ranked among the top 5 B-Schools in the country.

Before joining MDI, Dr. Singh was a Visiting Full Professor at the Faculty of Management, McGill University, Canada for five years. He had been a UNDP Fellow on International Management Education. He had been a Visiting Faculty to the International Centre for Public Enterprises, Slovenia. He is an alumnus Fellow of the Institute of World Affairs, Connecticut. He has taught at leading Business Schools in India and Abroad.

Dr. Singh has published several articles and presented papers at various national/international seminars. He is author of Three books in Finance and Management. Has been Consultant to leading Public & Private Sector and multinational organizations in India. He has been on several Committees of Government of India, All India Council for Technical Educational, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PHDCCI) Standing Committee on Public Enterprises (SCOPE) and All India Management Association (AIMA). He has been a member of Board/Academic Council of Indian Institute of Management Calicut, Narse Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi and Jamia Hamdard University. He is also on the Board of Governors of a few leading Indian companies.

Dr. Singh holds a Ph.D. in International Finance from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Mr. V.V. Ramakrishna Rao – Director

Mr. V.V. Ramakrishna Rao is former Chairman and Managing Director, Central Electricity Authority and Ex-Officio Secretary to Government of India with over 42 years of experience in Indian Power Sector.

He is having exposure to various filed of activities including Technical, Operational, Economic, Legal, Administrative and Human Resources Development. He is having experience in Planning for Power Development, Integrated operation of power systems, Assessment & Monitoring of Power Supply Position in the country, Assessment of Hydro Resources, Coordinated Planning of hydro power schemes in the context of overall river basin development and computing demand on water resources (and irrigation, flood control and navigation) as well as overall generation development scenario, Overall Management, Secure Operation & Control of Five Regional Grids in the Country through Regional Electricity Boards & Regional Load Dispatch Centers, Promoting Integrated Operation, Intra- Regional exchange of Power and Inter- Regional exchange of Power, Planning and development of Transmission & Distribution facilities in the country, Construction, Monitoring, Design & Engineering of Transmission Systems consistent with National Power Plans.

Mrs. Jayaprada Putrevu – Director     

Mrs. Jayaprada Putrevu is a management graduate from Singapore Management University, Singapore with over 22 years' experience in administration and software development. She worked in various capacities of technical diasporas of shipping, IT, Semiconductor and Petroleum Industries in Singapore and India to name a few, Neptune Oriental Lines, Statschippac, Dell Asia Pac, Nike, IP Softcom and HP in Singapore and East India Petroleum Limited and NIIT in India