Book Summary of Bloom of Desert

POWER MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE
NTPC LTD.
BOOK SUMMARY
THE BLOOM IN THE DESERT
The Making of NTPC
BY D V KAPUR
THE FIRST CMD OF NTPC
Leaders don`t create foLLowers,

they create more Leaders.
Learning @ The speed of business

The Future is now @ NTPC-PMI 2020 @COMPILED BY SH.AJAY SHUKLA (AGM-PMI)
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A Book Summary
NTPC – THE MAKING OF A BUSINESS BEHEMOTH ___________________ 3
From Concept to Reality: ______________________________________ 7
People Power: ______________________________________________ 9
Fashioning a new Management culture: _________________________ 11
Pushing the technology envelope:______________________________ 17
The 48 month challenge: _____________________________________ 17
From Dumps to glory : _______________________________________ 19
Electrifying the power sector: _________________________________ 21
Beyond power: ____________________________________________ 24
CONCLUSION _____________________________________________ 26

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NTPC – THE MAKING OF A BUSINESS BEHEMOTH

(A case study based on the book- The bloom in the desert – by DV Kapur)
On November 07, 1975, morning sun rose as usual and soaked the earth with
sunshine, waves in the ocean breached the shore with cool winds, mighty Himalayas
overlooked the country with feeding rivers but another sun rose that day in the
corporate horizon, namely NTPC Ltd, to lit the nation. NTPC Ltd was born in a state
of darkness (power shortage) that engulfed our country.
The 1970s was, without any exaggeration, India's powerless decade. The country
was caught in the quagmire of poverty of power. The sector hit an abysmal low in
terms of performance. Prolonged power cuts and load-shedding was the order of the
day in most states. Industry, which accounted for the bulk of consumption, suffered
the most, and several industrial units had to set up captive power plants. Power
shortage, both in terms of energy demand and peaking load, was extremely high.
This was largely due to inexcusable delays by power utilities in completing projects
for generation and transmission of electricity. Worse, even existing facilities were not
being run efficiently. The plant load factor (PLF, the measure of capacity utilization
of power plant) was in the abysmally low range of 40 per cent. This situation was,
undoubtedly, the direct outcome of the way the power sector was managed in those
days.
The genesis of power sector: India's tryst with electricity began in 1897, with the
commissioning of a 130KV hydroelectric plant in Darjeeling. Two year later, this was
followed by a one MW steam plant in Kolkata (then Calcutta). A few more plants
come up in Mysore and Kashmir under the rule of the princely families of those two
states. Thermal power stations also came up in erstwhile Madras and Kanpur in the
early 1900s. At the time of Independence in 1947, the aggregate capacity in the
country was 1363 MW, but this was largely confined to the major towns, through
over 300 private licensees and 270 state and municipal utilities.
In 2000, the government announced a mission – Power for All by 2012 – with lot of
fanfare. By that year, Indian was supposed to achieve self-sufficiency in power and
be in a position to supply reliable and quality power to all its citizens. In 2012, the
deadline was extended to 2017. According to the 2011 Census, electricity is the
source of lighting for only 52.5 per cent households. Even in urban areas, electricity
supply can hardly be said to be reliable.
In 2005, five years after the Power for All mission was announced, the National
Electricity Policy set a target of taking per capita consumption to 1,000kWh

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(kilowatt-hour). As of 2013, the per capita electricity consumption was at a pitiable

917kWh. In contrast, China's electricity industry and per capita consumption, which
was on a par with India's in the 1970 was 3,298 kWh in 2011, according Worked
Bank data. Lack of easy access to reliable and quality power discourages foreign
investment as well. The World Bank's latest Ease of Doing Business index released in
June 2014 ranks India at 137 out of 189 countries on the count of getting electricity.
The Power ministry revised the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12) target for capacity
addition from 78700 MW (megawatt) to 62374 MW. This was based on a realistic
assumption that a large number of projects were irrevocably delayed and would not
be commissioned during the Plan period. It was observed that the central and state
level public sector power utilities had added only 50 per cent of original target and
73 per cent of revised target. On the contrary, the private sector -Tata Power,
Reliance Power, Adani Power and others- who had already made their presence felt,
exceeded their original target by 53 per cent. Finally the actual capacity addition was
only 54014 MW, leading to a total 1,75,515 MW capacity by end 2012. Later, the
combined effort of both public and private sector saw a reasonably good capacity
addition during 12th Five year plan (2012-2017).
By March 2017, we are fortunate to have added high capacity addition, including
solar, and the total capacity has gone up to 3,15,000 MW plus overcoming all
difficulties of the past. The new government that came into office in May 2014 had
announced a revised target, 24x7 reliable Power for All, including in all rural
households, by 2019. It is hoped that generation and transmission and distribution
(T&D) projects would be implemented in time and are monitored systematically to
achieve the target.
As of now, the total capacity may look comfortable but it is too little when compared
to the future demand of power in the country. In future, India would experience a
larger demand-supply gap of electrical energy. As per assessment of International
Energy Agency, the electricity share of total energy demand, particularly non-OECD
(Organisation for Economic cooperation and development) countries, including India,
would gradually increase from 15% in 2011 to 25% in 2050. The capacity addition
also pales into insignificance when we compare with other emerging Economies,
especially China, who adds, it is learnt, nearly 1,00,000 MW every year. As stated
above, China's per capita consumption is also very high.
On the home front, our State power utilities are ailing. They do not have cash. They
continue to be the same as what they were in the seventies and eighties – the
absence of commercial and professional culture, lack of autonomy, freedom from
political interference and adherence to age-old administrative and accounting

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systems. The Central government has little control over these state utilities. The
grants and assistance by the Centre never enforced conditions relating to adoption
of best practices in Engineering, Finance, HR and IT. There is no dearth of good
engineers in the utilities but they are not oriented towards best professional
management practices. DISCOMS (Distribution companies) too are making losses.
Many sell below the cost and do not get adequate support by the States. Under the
constraints, efficiency improvement in State power utilities is still an issue.
In such a scenario, role played by Central utilities, notably NTPC Ltd., is exemplary.
Today every forth bulb in the country is lit by NTPC. In the words of the then
president of World Bank, AW Clausen, who made a statement in the August 1985
saying- "you (NTPC) are on time, you are within the budget, and you are generating
profits''. These are phenomena and characteristics that the bank likes to be
associated with". It was quite prophetic. NTPC has been a darling of World Bank for
quite a number of years and the initial projects of NTPC, like Singrauli and Korba,
were funded by the Bank in a liberal way. The completion of projects on time (or
before time) and consequent capacity addition was laudable.
The chief architect of growth of NTPC Ltd was Dr. D.V. Kapur who assumed the
charge of its first CMD on 19 March 1976 and started the company in one room
office in Shram Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi. He did not have a steno for many days.
While talking to top bureaucrats, lest the person on the other end of the phone
would think he is a one man company, he would first change his tone to pose as a
steno and then use his original tone to talk as a CMD. An engineer by profession, he
used his astute managerial skills, especially project management skills, to sculpt
NTPC scale new heights. While building a structure, one has to dream first and while
realising the same, make the foundation very strong. He dreamt of NTPC being
Mega-company some day and started the foundation brick by brick. He put a lot of
efforts in building systems, infused world class contracts and procurement practices,
strengthen HR, put good finance systems in place and used project management
skills to make projects fast track. When he declared that power projects can be
completed within 48 months, professionals in the sector looked at him with awe and
disbelief. He walked the talk and went on achieving benchmarks after benchmarks.
NTPC started from a single room office as said before and hence getting a proper
office was top priority. Dr Kapur was instrumental in recruiting Mr. IP Hazarika from
BHEL to take care of the personnel and administrative functions. He was a former
IRS officer. Under his supervision, NTPC started a modest office in Kailash Building
at Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi. As more recruitment took place and the
numbers swell, some rented offices nearby were taken. Rent was paid by small
borrowing from banks on personal security. Towards 1977-78, when flow of funds

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started, more office space was taken at Nehru Place in south Delhi on rent. In due
course, SCOPE got constructed in Lodhi Road Institutional area and NTPC could
manage to get 80,000 square feet of office space. Entire Corporate moved to SCOPE
with some offices were still running at Nehru place.
It is very rewarding to go through Mr. DV Kapur's contributions as a managerial
masterpiece from his book and peep into his life's experiences as pearls of wisdom.
Dr. Kapur considered NTPC as his extended family and dedicated his life to build this
company. As the first family member, he will ever remain in the minds of the people
in NTPC.
In the earlier pages it is observed that, around 1975, the major constraint before the
power sector was project delays causing not only low capacity addition but time and
cost over runs. The Ministry of Statistics and Program implementation regularly puts
out figures which shows that the cost overruns due to delays in execution of Central
government projects went up as much as INR 2 lakh crore a year in those days. If
we add State government projects it would be enormous. The contribution of power
sector in this national loss is not known but would be sizable.
When NTPC took a target of completing power projects in 48 months, it did so by

drawing detailed schedules and milestones for each project and ensured close and
systematic monitoring of these milestones. Some milestones did get missed, some
deadlines were overshot, but none of this resulted in delaying the final outcome of
commissioning a power plant in 48 months. It is said that when goal is clear, any
obstacle can be overcome, but when obstacles and excuses become important, goal
cannot be achieved. NTPC adopted modern management systems since inception i.e
in Seventies. Even in the United States and other developing countries, these ideas
were still in the early stages of adoption by leading infrastructure companies.
NTPC pursued aggressive and best project management practices to not only
complete projects on time but having put up plants, achieve International standards
of efficiency. As a result, our plants started running at a very high level of efficiency
including PLF. In 1993, the World Bank observed that 'NTPC's impact as a role model
has probably been rather less in demonstrating how to do it than in showing that it
can be done. The prime reason for all these laurels and kudos was the relentless
effort of our first CMD, DV Kapur, who saw to the fact that NTPC not only becomes a
role model of professional management but carve out a name in the hall of fame in
power sector in terms of efficiency and good practices. Some of the memorable
practices described by DV Kapur are quite a learning experience for power
professionals, especially ETs, and the same is documented below in an abridged
version.

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From Concept to Reality:
Government of India created two Central utilities - NTPC (National thermal power
corporation and NHPC (National hydro development corporation) - in 1975 to
accelerate power generation in the country. NHPC was to take over three ongoing
stations of 345 MW, 180 MW and 105 MW and plan for new stations. NTPC was
assigned the huge task of setting up large power stations – STPP (super thermal
power projects) - and hence it started initially four Greenfield stations (Singrauli,
Korba, Ramgundam and Farakka) of 2000 MW each to give a fillip to power
generation. At some point of time a need was felt to build power stations as pit
head, and this turned out to be a critical decision. Instead of moving the coal to
power stations, which might have created a logistic problem and escalated cost, it
was most beneficial to have pit head stations that drastically reduced the cost.
In the initial years, World Bank had come in a big way to finance the power sector
and NTPC got the largesse, due to its high level of efficiency, to put up its plants.
The development of power sector, as envisaged by the Bank, was four fold as
mentioned below.
Accelerating capacity expansion and improving operational performance.

Introducing long range transmission system planning nationally.
Promoting steps to improve the sector- organisation as well as training.
Strengthening the finances of the SEBs (State electricity boards)
The involvement of the Bank with NTPC helped the growing organisation in ways far
beyond financing, and expertise in the areas like international bidding that it made
conditional. As a result, even today, our contract and procurement systems are very
robust and best in class. Good systems instil confidence and build transparency. As
the book suggests, it helped NTPC in the credible progress of its organisation
building and execution of projects.
NTPC drew up a corporate plan early in its life. It provided the vision, mission and
long term strategies. The management was clear about two things. One, it would
not allow highly pyramidal hierarchical bureaucratic structure like State Electricity
Boards (SEBs). Two, it would develop a project specific organisation structure based
on professional and commercial consideration. Line and staff functions were clearly
demarcated and a great deal of authority was delegated to line function at the
project level. Across the organisation, power was liberally delegated to expedite
decision making. The mantra was to believe in people, give them power, motivate

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them, allow them to take decisions but conform to policies and systems. Delegation
of power was and still is the cornerstone of fast decision making in NTPC.
Corporate functions – planning, finance, HRD – provided a policy making platform to

ensure uniform implementation in all projects. A fully empowered Project review
team (PRT), consisting of all heads of all functions in the project and those from
corporate office, was chaired by General Manager/ ED of the project to fast track the
project implementation.
An efficient, innovative and independent contract management division was created

first time by NTPC to its advantage. In State utilities, contracts were driven by
engineering departments and hence they focused more on technical matters than
financial, commercial and legal issues. NTPC developed a system where all
procurements would be done on the basis of International competitive bidding in
accordance with World Bank guidelines. It greatly enhanced the quality of the
process and brought in transparency in the system. In order to give contracts a high
priority, a separate department was carved out with experts from engineering,
finance, commercial and law background. Separate training was organised for them
to enhance their cross-functional skill. This helped in creating a dedicated contract
management cadre to take care of the function in a holistic way. The contract
division was responsible for central procurement of equipments – mechanical,
electrical, general (civil contracts, import clearances, cement and steel procurement
etc.) and they have to run the contract from pre-bidding stage to successful
completion of the contract. The whole system could draw a lot of praise not only
from World Bank but other power utilities as well.
The introduction of IPMCS (integrated project management and control system) was
a milestone in effective project management in NTPC, which ensured timely/early
project completion. The slogan that captured the spirit of this approach was " NTPC
has RIGHT projects, we must do the projects RIGHT". A manual of IPMCS was
evolved to assign crucial roles to all divisions involved in project execution. This in
turn warranted development of comprehensive management systems in contracts,
quality assurance, engineering services, construction management, financial
management, manpower planning and training.
Putting everything in place was not an easy task, nor was it achieved overnight. But
Dr. Kapur was confident that a combination of sound project management and a
system approach to management as well as a proactive and compassionate HRD
framework would help NTPC go to the next orbit.

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People Power:
The success of any business enterprise has a lot to do with the quality of its people,
because it is man/woman, and not money, material or machine, who has the ability
to think, plan and execute. At the same time, human beings are to be inspired,
controlled and constantly motivated. The need for quality manpower was felt at the
early stage of NTPC and the top management left no stone unturned to fulfil this
need.
An intensive recruitment drive for executive positions was launched in mid-1976

looking at the company's future growth potential. NTPC was perhaps the first
organisation where the job description for each job was formulated before
recruitment. For the first time in the history of Indian recruitment, psychometric
tests, involving group discussions and role play, were introduced to recruit Executive
Trainees (ET). Psychometric tests were important because working in NTPC would
involve posting in far-flung, isolated areas where the projects were located, living in
small communities and working under pressure. This practice of getting managerial
talent, ETs, laterally, through direct recruitment, has continued since then and today
they form the backbone of the company.
The year-long training program for the ETs has been the most comprehensive and
ambitious. It empowers them to have management orientations and appreciate
overall business dynamics. The systems approach in executing projects was
constantly drilled into the trainees from the day one which encompasses every facet
of project management. Technical trainees were given exposure to operation and
maintenance (O&M) practices as well as training on state of art simulators so that
they can improve the reflexes of operating power plants. Best in class training
material (in CDs/now web based) in each subject was also prepared to support
learning. Once manuals for various systems had been documented, these became
part of the course content that trainees had to go through. One innovative part of
the training was to give each trainee a diary in which they were to make a daily
record of what they had learnt each day. Supervisors were asked to review the same
so that it infuses an amount of seriousness in writing diaries.
The first batch of 35 ETs recruited in 1976-77 and another 266 in the next three
years was the foundation of company. Many of them have risen to top leadership
positions of not only NTPC but other power utilities. In fact, today top positions of
private utilities – Tata power, Adani Power, reliance power and others – are filled up
by our own ETs who were recruited that time. Alok Roy, an ET of 1978 batch,

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presently CEO of a large power company, describes his career growth published in a
power magazine rather poetically – 'He is what he is today because NTPC served as
a nursery for him, as it has been for thousands of others. The work culture was like
a creeper taking you closer to the sun so that you can flower'.
Management and technical training for all executives for was made important for
skill up-gradation. Executives were sponsored for need-based training programs
organised by Institutions of repute. Training under equipment supply and erection
contracts were arranged in association with suppliers of equipments and services. An
agreement was signed with British Electricity international (BEI), UK, to sponsor
some seniors NTPC engineers to study latest O&M practices in power plants in UK.
Similarly, an arrangement was made with VGB power tech, a Germany based
organisation to impart training on efficient electricity generation. Power Management
Institute was set up to carter to in-house training. Apart from in-house training,
NTPC, right from 1977, exploited every possible opportunity to familiarise its
executives with the best practices being followed by some of the leading
international consultants and power utilities in areas like project management,
engineering, plant operation and organisational management. Non executive
employees were also given equal importance in imparting training. They were given
opportunities in the ITIs and Institute of Engineers to study courses that would get
them diploma/degree certificates. This ensured creation of a quality and dedicated
workforce that took the company to a place where it is.
NTPC could do little in matters relating to salary, for, as a PSU, it was governed by
BPE (Bureau of public enterprises) rules and its hands were tied in rewarding
employees. To make up for this, in the case of salaries, NTPC decided to follow a
performance-based incentive scheme which would result in employees getting more
and not become complacent, as was in the case of many PSUs. If a particular task
was completed in time, the team working on it may not get any incentive but if they
could do it before the schedule time without compromising on cost and quality, they
would get certain percentage bonus. Side by side, performance based appraisal
system was developed with the help of external experts to support incentive. But
appraisals were not a once-in-a-year affair. There was constant monitoring and
counselling, which was an essential part of career planning and managerial
succession. The HRD department was closely involved in the entire process and they
ensured that, outstanding performers also got fast-track promotions. Apart from
these, through specific human resource practices and interventions, the whole
organisation culture was geared towards making employees involved, empowered
and cared for.

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Fashioning a new Management culture:
Evolved from management philosophy, the systems approach to project

management is now recognised internationally as a well developed discipline. NTPC's
Core management team decided to evolve own management systems in-house. This
brought a sense of ownership. The integrated project management and control
system (IPMCS), which was authored by team NTPC, is a title still retained after four
decades and found to be extremely useful. It served as a master network, from
which flew three tier of PERT networks and monitoring system. It was decided to
develop manuals, not only for IPMCS but other functions as well. Some of the
important manuals in NTPC are as follows.
Organisational design
IPMCS
Engineering planning and coordination
Construction management
Contracts management and quality assurance system
Manpower planning and training
Budgetary control and Financial Management
Operations and maintenance (O&M)
Manuals are made by dedicated teams and before documenting each system,
members made presentations to functional managers, including those at the project
sites. The documents went through several iterations, based on the feedback
received, before being finalised as a Manual. System approach and development of
manual are two sides of the same coin. One compliments the other. It was observed
that the major cause of project delay with the State Utilities (SEBs) was the absence
of such manuals and their integration with daily working. By developing systems,
everybody's effort was synchronised and they knew the direction of moving towards
one goal.
It was mentioned above that IPMCS, which defines the responsibility centres of
planning, scheduling, execution and control of project related activities, was the core
of NTPC's systems approach to Management. IPMCS involved three levels PERT
chart with L1, L2 and L3 network as each level, which captures 400/500 activities
each. Known as master network, L1 (level one) network became the basis of all
planning, execution and monitoring of the progress of a super thermal power
project. The project was broken into around forty packages. Each package is split
into activities like engineering, procurement of raw material, equipments,
manufacturing site activities and so on. It also sets out milestones for each activity

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from zero date (the date the contract for the main plant equipment is awarded) till
the final date of commissioning. This does not mean that the planning and
monitoring starts with the zero date. The corporate planning division draws up a
pre-order activities network, which deals with the preparatory activities that needed
to be done before zero date. This included many activities like preparation of bidding
documents, getting statutory clearances and approvals, development of plan for site
office starting with land acquisition, soil testing and others. It ensured that
organisation does not lose precious time at all on its projects.
Then came what was simply known as L2 (level two) network, in which each
package was broken up into task and sub-tasks including sequential supplies of
components and subassemblies by equipment manufacturers. This network is
prepared by corporate planning division in association with contract management
division at Corporate HQ for the supply, erection and commissioning of main plant.
Senior managers at the site were consulted before the L2 network was finalised. In
order to ensure that the contractors were also committed to the deadlines set in the
L2 network, they too were made to sign these PERT charts. Only then was their
advanced payment released. When contractors sign the L2 document, it put
responsibility on them to complete the work on time.
Finally there was the L3 (level three) network at the project sites, which further
disaggregated the tasks outlined in L2 networks and once again set deadlines and
identified what needed to be done to ensure that those deadlines are met. So each
contract awarded at site – this included a whole lot of others as well – had its own
PERT chart and this replicated the L2 chart, which the contractors at that level had
to sign. The PERT chart at each level did not remain a formality in the sense that it
was constantly monitored and periodically reviewed by review committees. The
responsibility centre for monitoring each chart was identified. In order to ensure that
it was effective, corporate planning division collected data on slippages for the
master network and major L2 networks at regular intervals and initiated corrective
action whenever required.
At the project site, there was a system of weekly review meetings. If a project has
fifty contracts, a calendar of meetings was drawn up for all; a date, time, venue and
the people who were to attend the meeting were all fixed. At the meeting itself, the
discussion would focus on areas where the work was lagging or likely to slip and
how it could be speeded up. Targets were set for the next week, when the whole
exercise would be repeated. To reinforce this weekly meeting, there would be
another monthly meeting of the project review team (PRT), chaired by the General
Manager of the project. The team comprised of corporate planners, engineers,
construction managers and the major contractors at the site. They would address

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whatever issues that might hamper the progress of the project. The minutes of the
discussion held in the PRT meeting would be sent to top management for sharing
and any help required.
The PRT yielded three benefits. One, it encouraged a camaraderie between different
divisions of the company and a pride in being a part of the project. Two, division
heads ensured that, in their department, deadlines were met, to avoid any reporting
of failure at the meetings. An added pressure was the possibility of a special review
meeting being chaired by the CMD to solve the unresolved issues. Three, emerging
challenges are identified and solved before they become major issues. Dr Kapur, the
then CMD, has clearly spelled out that he would be interested in only two major
issues (exceptional reports) – what has not happened in time and what is not likely
to happen in time. To accelerate decision making, solutions were to be worked out
on the spot and any documentation/approval from the HQ might be sought later.
Designs and Drawings would be revised on the spot and vetted. On no account work
would be stopped for want of orders from the higher-ups. All these efforts yielded
astonishing results and projects were put on fast track. Mr Kapur used to say -
project management is no rocket science. It is just about putting activities and
systems in place to identify problems when they arise and solve them without delay.
In 1977, a Procurement and Works policy was formulated to provide guidelines and
procedure to be followed for the acquisition of equipment, material and services for
various projects and other divisions of NTPC. Since our procurement policy had to
follow World Bank guidelines, an extremely knowledgeable procurement expert from
the Bank, CP Ohri, was hired to fine tune the documents for International
competitive bidding. The document also laid down how bid evaluation teams need to
be established, comprising representatives of various departments, and how the
evaluation needs to take into account the evaluation criteria spelt out in the bid
documents. This policy was designed to insulate our organisation from the decisions
we take by external pressures that were inevitable during the evaluation of bids.
By January 1980, as system and procedures began to be put in place, as mentioned

above, a robust Contract management system manual was put also in place. Four
volumes of extremely detailed sub-manuals were released by contract management
division. The broad contours of the sub-manuals are as follows.
Sub-volume A – it covered all prescribed contract activities from the start to
completion of the contract up to the guarantee period (the period after the
completion of all activities during which the contractor's responsibility continues).
Sub-volume B – it sets out detailed procedures to be followed for the forty plus pre-
award functions. Five key milestones dates were identified for each contract (this

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meant around 200 dates) which would be constantly monitored. It helped NTPC to
award complex contract in less than 6 months.
Sub-volume C – It dealt with, among other things, procedures for change in
contracts, payments, insurance, imports, transportation and port clearances.
Sub-volume D – It is related to quality assurance system.
So thorough were the NTPC processes that not one of the 400 contracts worth
around $7 billion that it entered into for the first four projects were either
questioned on ground of propriety or involved in any dispute or arbitration. These
contracts, which were full-proof and enforceable, had been awarded in a shorter
time and the quality level achieved resulted in operational performance of every
plant being much above national average.
The testimony to the above fact was also borne by the fact that NTPC introduced a
revolutionary Quality assurance system, which was another first, to ensure quality,
not checking items after they were manufactured, but monitoring quality during
manufacturing, erection, commissioning and operation. If quality checks are built
into the system at every stage during the manufacture and erection of the plant,
commissioning schedules do not go haywire.
Negotiation between any customer and supplier invariably revolve around quality
related matters and the later makes some quality assurances. NTPC went a step
further. It insisted that contract agreements could not be finalised unless a Quality
Plan (an addendum relating to quality assurance) was finalised and signed by the
contractor. Quality plan would go to the details of what materials to be used, at
what stage certain tests to be carried out, according to what standard it would be
tested, and that NTPC staff would witness the testing. For example, in the case of
key equipment like the boiler drum, the quality plan would identify critical points in
the manufacturing cycle, where NTPC inspectors would check the quality of the
product. The insistence on quality has stood NTPC in good stead. It is evidences by
the fact that in 2017 our first plant Singrauli is not only operating the same
equipment installed 35 years earlier, but is still giving 90% PLF.
Another management practice, called Construction management, helped NTPC in

standardising construction practices during all phases of the construction of the
power plant, even while allowing for site-specific conditions. It is also meant for
standardising the channels of information on construction activities – specifying what
information would be sent to whom, by whom and which format. In addition, it set
out the frequency and timing of the flow of information and reports on construction
activities. One of the long term objectives of construction management is to develop
a centralised databank on how various contractors performed on time, cost and

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quality parameters. This enabled NTPC to evaluate them for future projects and
point out to them their shortcomings in an earlier project and take commitment that
this would not be repeated.
Construction management has also been spelled out through four manuals. These
manuals gave the checklist on how the site was to be prepared for construction, laid
down procedures regarding how to ensure that major contractors, particularly
equipment suppliers, would execute their work in particular timeframes. The manual
also described the role of field engineering, field quality control, site services and
utilities, materials management and safety. On the face of it, this looks like micro-
management but it was because the manual went into such minutiae that work on
all sites proceeded smoothly in the face of severe challenges.
It is worth mentioning that the Financial Management system manual provided the
backbone to the company because at the end of the day everything needed to be
translated into finance. The manual ran into twelve volumes and covered a range of
subjects including financial accounting, construction budget, contract accounting,
inventory control, internal audit and so on. Most manuals are drawn up in house but
NTPC engaged reputed financial consultancy firm, A F Ferguson, to assist in some
critical areas. Ferguson was asked to go to project sites and see if people could
follow the manuals properly. Ferguson had to change 40% of what was written
earlier after coming back from sites. NTPC embarked on a best in class financial
management system comparable to any International company that time.
Apart from developing good systems, it was important to work on the attitude. The
then Director (Finance), PS Bami, drove into the minds of finance executives that
they should not be forever critical, rejecting or grudgingly accepting proposals in an
almost reflexive manner. Instead, they are told to become a part of the entire
management function, cooperating constructively in dealing with the expenditure
proposals and, if necessary, double checking things and ensuring compliance. If any
department had any objection to a financial observation, the issue was to be
thrashed out at a meeting of all concerned departments. For high value transactions,
there would be another level of scrutiny by a multi-disciplinary review team.
What made the Financial Management system stand out was the enormous
delegation of power it facilitated to ensure smooth and effective implementation of
all activities in conformity with the policy guidelines. This is broadly a decentralised
structure to empower people to take fast decisions. This is in contrast to State
utilities that follow a centralised structure of decision making. Another financial
management tool that helped keep pressure on the physical progress of a project
was performance based budgeting. Management of projects would submit their

NTPC LTD.
budgets and after due diligence, it would be approved. What is important that
money would be sanctioned as per budget but would be released only after physical
progress of a particular work was verified. The system was so full-proof that
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) would write 'Nil' in the comments after
scrutiny of the accounts. Overall, the entire system was built around faith, respect
and a desire to excel.
The Operations and Maintenance (O&M) system needs special mention because the
manuals and procedures were prepared for each power plant, separately for 200MW
and 500MW that time. In 1981, NTPC got experts from British Electricity
International (BEI) to review the manuals and bring them at par with those of
leading International utilities. BEI mandated that there should not be any
compromise on the safety of both men and material and the message was drilled to
everyone in NTPC loud and clear. To this day, no one overrules the established
systems. The O&M system proved to be a blessing when NTPC was suddenly called
upon to take over the management of Badarpur power plant in 1978. Manuals were
first worked out for 100MW units under operation at Badarpur. Plant Management
actively associated with identifying problem areas and drawing up time-bound
programs for improving plant's performance. In addition, they also worked out an
efficiency improvement program and measures for reducing outages of the
generating units. As a result of robust O&M practices and exemplary maintenance
planning, where performance of the plant was reviewed against the established
benchmarks, units in NTPC's power plants would run for even 200 days without
tripping.
To augment productivity, spare parts management was put in place. There were
some mandatory spares, which were to be procured only from the supplier of the
main equipment. They were identified at the start itself and specification and price
obtained for them. In addition, there were optional spares which could be procured
from multiple vendors. Since those were easily available, NTPC decided not to hold
high inventory and introduced a system of ''Pooled spares'' under which each plant
was the parking spot of different pooled items. Procurement of pooled spares also
gave the price advantage. No other utility in India had this kind of system at that
time.
Soon state utilities (SEBs) started emulating NTPC's O&M systems. CEA also started
rating power plants on the basis of our parameters and as a result SEB's
performance improved. Over time, NTPC started making its expertise available to
other power utilities in developing plant improvement programs and increasing
operational efficiency.

NTPC LTD.
Business stalwarts from private sector, like DP Mandelia, close associate of GD Birla,
and Russi Mody, the then Chairman, TISCO, visited NTPC office and after an hour
long presentation, complimented the young NTPC team for setting new boundaries.
While leaving, DP Mandelia confided to DV kapur saying 'Mr Kapur, I have never
learned so much in my life in such a short period as during the last two hours'. The
ETs who now head private sector power and infrastructure companies are still
committed to NTPC's philosophy of organisation and management, systems
approach and its culture building approach. Rathin Basu, ET of 1978 batch, who
heads Alstom South Asia, observed that 'the DNA that I acquired in NTPC drives me
to achieve goals and targets even for my current employers'.
Pushing the technology envelope:
In early days, NTPC management decided to construct and operate power plants at
par with the best in the world in all aspects of quality and performance. For this,
technology was the key. A power project with generating capacity of 2000MW and
the introduction of 500MW units had never been attempted in India, which NTPC
adopted very fast. The real challenge was that the technical services were abysmally
low in the country and hence NTPC had to develop its in-house capability, the
technical services division, to meet such challenges. The division was to be multi-
disciplinary character and take up a range of tasks including feasibility report, cycle
optimisation, sizing and selection of equipments and development of schemes and
auxiliary systems in line with the latest technological innovations and practices. The
help of International consultants – like Ebasco engineering consultants and United
Engineers – was sought to support such innovations.
Over time, our engineers, in association with International consultants, also learnt
about the organisational procedures and planning and management systems that
these consultants adopted. Later, NTPC developed a full-fledged consultancy wing
with its own special delegation of power. It started consultancy services in a small
way to West Bengal state electricity board, Rural Electrification Corporation (REC),
Neyveli Lignite Corporation and others. Later on it won bids in Dubai and some gulf
countries. Today consultancy division is a profit centre.
The 48 month challenge:
Having committed in the very first annual report that Singrauli project would be
commissioned four years from the date of ordering the main plant and equipment,
NTPC decided to try and not lose any time and, in case it did, to make up for it. In

NTPC LTD.
July 1977, the first contingent of staff arrived and settled in prefabricated buildings –
known as Kota Basti – and used the same for residential and office accommodation.
The first major civil construction started with levelling and grading the highly
undulated land, which our team has already surveyed. This work was awarded to
Hindustan Steel Construction Ltd (HSCL), which was a PSU and had the reputation in
civil work. By giving the task to a PSU, NTPC saved at least two months time that
would have been spent in awarding the contract through competitive bidding. By
mid-1978, most of the infrastructure work, including power and water for
construction, temporary railway siding, approach roads and storage sheds, was
completed, in accordance with the master network.
The construction of power plant – from levelling the ground to the commissioning
the plant – was nothing less than a military-style operation, with a large number of
activities, many of them not within NTPC's control, needing to be coordinated. If a
slippage was anticipated, more resources and extra effort had to be put in to meet
the deadline. Actually if the completion time is 48 months, target given to the
contractors were based on a schedule of 42 months. A clear message was sent to all
that the master network and deadlines are sacrosanct and any delay would not be
tolerated. In fact, messages were reinforced by signboards across the project site
which said: 'One day delay in commissioning a thermal power project costs 30 crore
to the nation.' This slogan was based on the assumption that a power from a
2000MW station was likely to be sold for at least 1 crore a day and that the country
would lose production of goods and services worth Rs. 30 a day for every unit of
electricity not supplied by the power plant.
NTPC took special care of the contractors because they can make or break large
infrastructure projects. On many occasions our company provided advance to
contractors when they were short of cash and advised technically when there is a
need. For example, Triveni Structurals, who was to supply fabricated structures,
could not supply more than 100 tonnes of structures a day when the need was 300
structures a day. NTPC noticed that despites its good technical manpower, Triveni
Structurals lacked the necessary production planning and management skills. NTPC
managers were, therefore, deputed to assist the company in several areas, including
recruiting of trained technicians from nearby ITIs. For this helping hand, contractors
of NTPC worked in tandem with our officials rose to the challenge. The attitude to
contractors was summed up in another slogan that was put up at various places:
'Targets are sacrosanct and must be achieved. If contractor fails, NTPC fails.'
The big day, 13 February 1982, finally came. In the evening, a group of 35 Singrauli
staff led by the General Manager crowded into a small room where the excitation
system had to be synchronised. When SK Dasgupta, chief superintendent, O&M,

NTPC LTD.
tuned the switch to synchronise power with the Uttar Pradesh grid, there was a lot
of applaud and shouts of congratulations. But the alarms also went off. The turbine-
generator had tripped. The problem was located and set right and the unit got
synchronised. It was a big moment, not just for NTPC, but the power sector as well.
A power plant had been commercially commissioned in four years and one day, a
new record in India. It was the fulfilment of a dream.
From Dumps to glory :
The Prime Minister and cabinet of India decided in 1978 that NTPC should take over
the management of Badarpur power station from 1 April 1978. NTPC was a kid then.
It was constructing four green field super thermal power stations in remote locations
under extremely stiff deadlines. Since it was a cabinet decision, NTPC did not have
the option of saying 'no'.
The Badarpur plant had been conceived of in 1965 to meet the growing demand of
Delhi. It was located in the Delhi outskirts -20 km away from centre of Delhi on the
highway to Agra. The plant, with three 100MW units, was designed and constructed
by CEA, which also had the operational control of it after the plant was
commissioned in July 1973. However, its performance was below par and had
plummeted by the time the proposal for its takeover by NTPC was mooted. Delhi
had been experiencing frequent load shedding because there were frequent break
downs of the plant – almost every week – and the PLF was 35% while the plant
availability was 50%. The plant was run by CEA engineers, who mostly spent time in
the design and planning division and did not have hands on experience of running a
power plant.
To add to the cup of woe, there had been 4000 employees and this is surely a
burden for a new organisation like NTPC to take over. Our plants (2000MW) run on
2000 employees with a Man:MW ratio of 1:1 (today NTPC is having a Man:MW close
to 0.5:1MW), which was standard that time. How could we ever bring down 4000 to
720 looking at the total MW. It was a challenge how to downsize them. As indicated
above, NTPC did not have a choice in the matter. On 1 April 1978, NTPC formally –
and quite reluctantly – took control of the Badarpur plant.
The following measures were quickly taken to turnaround the plant.
The immediate focus was on putting systems in place. Missing documents were
traced or drawn up again, drawings were prepared, and maintenance documents
were drawn up and made available to engineers.

NTPC LTD.
A task force was constituted who completed the assignment of identifying more than
100 action items requiring attention and the expenses involved. The task force also
came out with a Betterment Plan for BTPS (Badarpur thermal power station)
turnaround.
NTPC's operation services division undertook framing of Badarpur's O&M manual,
first for 100MW and later for the 210MW units just before they were commissioned.
The manual included recommendations with formats for monitoring of performance
parameters daily, weekly, monthly and annual review of station performance, gap
analysis for improving station efficiency.
The downsizing of manpower started. It was decided to bring the staff strength to
2500 in a phased manner, which meant 3.5 people per MW. The extensive research
that the task force did showed that a little over 1000 employees had been hired
when plant was being constructed and had been absorbed after it was
commissioned. They were continuing on the rolls even though the three 100MW
units of the plant had been in the operational mode for several years. This was the
first target. When headcount was taken, it was discovered that 300 of them do not
exist!!! They were ghost employees.
NTPC deliberately campaigned about its four plants under construction and asked
employees of Badarpur to join the super thermal plants. Those workers who hail
from Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh were willing to take a transfer to be closer to
their home. Secondly, the engineers who were appointed by CEA preferred to go
back to their parent organisation. All these marginally brought down the number of
manpower.
Systems were put in place. To start with, a punching system was introduced to
record attendance/absentee statement and hours worked. Overtime was reduced. By
cracking down unscrupulous employees who hiked their medical bills, the
reimbursement of medical drastically came down. People were given better working
conditions with cleaner facility by putting toilet and starting hygienic staff canteen.
Bus service was provided to ferry employees. Better medical and educational
facilities were created within campus.
The biggest confidence measure was the incentive scheme that NTPC initiated.
Desirable norms were laid down on performance parameters – PLF, oil consumption
and auxiliary power consumption - and incentive was linked to better achievement.
As soon as the workers started realising that this was a genuine effort and they
stood to gain from this, there was a complete buy-in of the employees. They started
cooperating in the efficiency improvement.
All these measures on both technology and system front as well as the people
management started yielding results sooner than expected. Within one year, the
plant clocked significant progress – the PLF increased from 32% to 50% in 1977-78
and to as high as 58% to 70% in 1978-79. This was completely beyond expectation.

NTPC LTD.
In the later years, NTPC repeated the same miracle in turning around the takeover
plants – Talcher thermal, Unchhahar and Tanda. The beauty is that today they are
listed in the best 10 performing stations in the country having PLF close to 90% on
an average. The then Director (Personnel)), IP Hazarika joked that - more than
telling us what to do, Badarpur experience told us what not to do and the mistakes
to be avoided.
Electrifying the power sector:
After an electrifying performance in NTPC, DV Kapur was appointed as Secretary,

Power, to take charge of the power sector of the whole country. He continued to be
the CMD of NTPC as well. One of job cut out for him, among others, as Power
secretary, was to turn around the State Electricity Boards (SEBs).
At the heart of the problem was the poor performance of the SEBs. Various World
Bank reports bemoaned the delay commissioning plants, utilisation of plant capacity
and heavy financial losses. PLF was a pathetic 40%. The SEB management had
some genuine grievances. There was undesirable interference in their functioning as
well as outrageous demands – invariably made verbally – from those in the authority
in the state governments who were not accountable either for the performance or
financial results of SEBs.
But the top management of SEBs could not escape the blame entirely. They should
have introduced proven management practices for improving efficiency and ensure
sound financial health. Timely audit and full recovery of dues could have reduced
their losses. Cost and time over runs in new projects could have been effectively
controlled by the time-tested project management techniques. There was
considerable scope for reduction of T&D losses and thefts. In addition, the SEBs
needed to focus on organisational restructuring, introduction of professional cadres
and management systems in the lines of what had been attempted in NTPC.
Dr. Kapur set out on his agenda and started the exercise with Maharastra SEB,
headed by SN Misra, who, he felt, would be more receptive to his ideas. At the end
of 2 days of discussion, the entire board was full of enthusiasm as displayed by Mr.
Misra and his colleagues. They went on putting reform process by adopting latest
management techniques, project management tools and discarded century-old PWD
model of functioning. It took time but results showed up. Soon Tamil Nadu and
Gujurat followed. These are the States which were relatively well-run. The reforms in
these three States served as a benchmark for other SEBs to emulate.

NTPC LTD.
Another important institution in need of fundamental reform to energise the sector

was Central Electricity Agency (CEA). There was a strong argument against the
involvement of CEA in project engineering consultancy functions. The Rajadhyaksha
Committee, set up to look for the betterment of power sector, had remarked that
this was 'incompatible with the stature of a policy making and regulatory body'. It
suggested that the CEA should, instead, develop the capability of a review
consultant to give an expert second opinion on the recommendation prepared by
any reputed prime consultant. Mr. Kapur took major initiative to transform CEA into
a body that would not only discharge its stipulated responsibilities but also command
respect for its capabilities like becoming the fountainhead of knowledge in all
aspects of planning and development of power sector.
Similarly another organisation which got a major revamp was Central Power
Research Institute (CPRI), Bengaluru, to give an impetus to the R&D activities in
power sector in India. CPRI was otherwise engaged in routine activities such as
testing of transmission towers. First it was decided that CPRI would have a close
collaboration with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and other laboratories to boost
R&D in the sector. Second, the Ministry undertook a talent hunt and appointed M
Ramamoorthy, Chief, R&D, Hidustan Brown Boveri (HBB), as a suitable person to
head CPRI. The post was also upgraded to Director General (DG). Apart from
refurbishing the laboratory facilities, the new DG restructured the organisation by
inducting scientists and technologists of repute and collaborated with laboratories at
national and international levels.
An interconnected high voltage transmission network was an absolute necessity for

the optimum utilisation (transfer) of surplus capacity from one region to another that
faced a shortage. The building of a series of 2000MW coal-based pithead power
plants in mid-seventies increased the need for such a network. In a parallel
development, NTPC has been entrusted with the responsibility of the planning and
construction of transmission systems to evacuate power from its super thermal
stations and distribute in bulks to SEBs. As a result, transmission system, by NTPC,
expanded to an aggregate generation capacity of 13600MW with the inclusion of
Badarpur plant, addition of 3000MW Rihand plant in the northern region and the
2300MW Vindhyachal plant in the western region in NTPC portfolio. Given the
continuing increase in volume, NTPC had also set up a separate Transmission
division in 1980.
Towards 1981, in order to meet the objective of an integrated operation of the

power system, energy ministry, with D. Kapur as the anchor, decided to seek an
approval by council of ministers for creation of a national grid – owned and managed

NTPC LTD.
by a Central government enterprise. It went into an initial hurdle with CEA and
finance ministry objecting to it but finally got through with cabinet approval and
Prime Minister approving the same. In October 1989, the National Power
Transmission Corporation (NPTC) came into existence. It got a new name as Power
Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL), popularly known as Power Grid; with it's
headquarter now at Gurugram. The Transmission division of NTPC got merged with
PGCIL. Many employees of NTPC also opted for joining the new organisation.
Recognising the effectiveness of NTPC's organisational design and management
systems, the new entity adopted almost entirely and has followed them till now.
Quadrupling of oil prices in 1973 and the second oil shock in 1979 following the
Iran-Iraq war gave a wake-up call for energy conservation in the country. A study
was conducted by PR Srinivasan, Head, fuel efficiency division of National
Productivity Council (NPC), New Delhi, by carrying out over 200 energy audits in 12
industrial sectors and the final report was submitted to the government in 1983. This
report – Utilisation and Conservation of Energy – was pathbreaking in that it worked
out a Quantification of Saving for various segments corresponding to a short term,
medium term and long term conservation measures it listed.
As per the report, the industry sector could get a saving of INR 1925 crore a year by
investing INR 3600 crore in conservation measure. For example, the report
mentioned that an investment of INR 890 crore by the transport sector and INR 650
crore by agricultural pump sets in energy conservation measures would yield a
saving of INR 765 crore and 410 crore a year respectively for both. The report did
not make much headway, though created an impact. It took two decades for the
government to pass the Energy conservation Act in 2001, which was a National
policy on energy conservation. In power sector, Bureau of Energy efficiency (BEE)
was created in 2002 under the Ministry of power. Today, BEE is known for star
ratings and heralding use of LED in the country.
On 10 August 1981, Dr. Kapur was appointed as Secretary, Heavy Industries, and
hence officially got disassociated with power sector. But the umbilical cord still
remained in the sense that he was consulted for any major policy decision in the
power sector. In 1990-91, when Liberalisation, privatisation and Globalisation (LPG)
swept the country, he got actively associated with the globalisation of power sector
and accompanied minister for road shows in US. Later he differed with the
government in signing MOUs with power utilities to set up power plants in India
without resorting to competitive bidding. Even ENRON managed to obtain a
'sovereign guarantee' from Government of India (GOI). Sadly, the project ran into
controversy and ENRON went bankrupt. The Dhabol power plant by ENRON, at the
behest of GOI, is presently run by NTPC.

NTPC LTD.
Some years later, Suresh Prabhu, the then power minister, involved Mr. Kapur in
policy formulation. The government was working on a new Electricity Bill 2003,
under the guidance of Gajendra Haldea, an IAS officer specialised in infrastructure,
and the draft came for discussion in the Ministry. The first page of the report spoke
brilliantly about power generation being delicensed but in the ensuing pages
advocated nearly 41 clearances and approvals required for putting up power plants.
Mr Kapur, when consulted, was very ecstatic about delicensing but dismayed about
41 clearances and conveyed the same to the Minister in clear terms saying 'this is a
disaster'. The then joint secretary Ajay Shankar, who became Secretary, power later
on, was called and instructed to consult DV Kapur to give it a final shape. Mr Prabhu
agreed to most of the changes Mr Kapur suggested and the final draft was made
ready. Later the bill was accepted and made Electricity Act, 2013, which is today the
most authentic document followed in power sector.
Beyond power:
When Dr. Kapur moved to the Ministry of Heavy industries as Secretary in 1981,
Maruti Udyog Ltd has been formed to produce cars and it was desired by the
Government to fast track the project. The mandate was to produce a people car. On
his visit to Tokyo, Japan and having a dialogue with Japanese auto firms, Mr. Kapur
entertained the option of small cars which might be suitable to us. In a rough
calculation, he projected that even 5% of the two million (production target that
time) two wheeler users upgrade to small cars, it will provide a demand of 10000
cars for Maruti. In February 1982, Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) expressed
interest in a collaboration to produce 800cc car and MUL quickly agreed to the same.
On October 2, a joint venture was established which ensured technology transfer as
well. By this, the auto component industry got a tremendous fillip and Government,
in its part, speeded up licenses to start more auto component industries. What MUL
did to the nation is history and Dr. Kapur significantly contributed to build MUL.
As Secretary, Dr. Kapur made himself available to CEOs of companies and various
industry associations like Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Meeting with
progressive industrialists like Keshub Mahindra and Brij Mohan Munjal provided him
the ground level input and he went on pushing his agenda on energy conservation,
R&D and technology up-gradation.
In August 1985, Dr. Kapur became Secretay, Ministry of chemicals and petro-
chemical and gave the sector a new direction. People in the auto industry told him
earlier that plastics and other derivatives of petrochemicals constitute 7% of material

NTPC LTD.
used in modern cars and it would increase in future. When he met the
representatives of plastic manufactures association, he got the impression that their
vision for the use of plastics was confined to buckets and mugs in the bathroom. He
found that petrochemical industry was not only a minor sector in India, but per
capita consumption of petrochemical was one of the lowest in the world – 0.67kg as
compared to an average of 13kg globally and 73kg in developed countries.
He set on an agenda to revitalise the sector. In early 1986, he constituted a

Committee for Prospective Planning of the Petrochemical industry to formulate long
term growth plan for the industry. To reinforce the importance of petrochemical in
the country, he said in a high powered meeting that in the not-too-distant future, in
a room we meet, except for the human flesh, every other item would be of material
which would be a derivative of petrochemicals. This perfectly set the tone for the
growth of the sector and the committee submitted a report on 30 September 1986
spelling out in detail a roadmap for the faster expansion of the industry. The key
recommendations were accepted and that put the industry on high growth.
After hours
After a stint of almost 35 years in government service, Dr Kapur retired on 30

September 1986. Post retirement, his life became more active in taking up new
assignments. He became Chairman of IIT, Bombay for 10 long years and was in
instrumental building the business school where innovative courses like technology
management and project management became a part of the curriculum. He pursued
the idea of industry-academia linkage and got funding for industry linked projects.
He was inducted as independent director of many companies like Delhi based DCM
group, GKN – a subsidiary of well known engineering consultancy firm, Jacob
Engineering, L&T, Tata Chemicals and Reliance Industries. Each assignment would
throw insight to different management style than the public sector culture and for
him, it was a learning experience.
When Reliance wanted to make a foray into power generation, they wanted Mr.
Kapur's help to build a company. Soon, DV Kapur became the founding Chairman of
another power company, Reliance Power, with a large potential. Once again, he was
building a company from the scratch. Under his able leadership Reliance power went
from strength to strength. It won, through competitive bidding, Patalganga naphtha-
based combined cycle power plant in Maharastra, the Bhawana gas based combined
cycle power plant in Delhi and Jayamkondam power plant-cum-lignite mine in Tamil
Nadu. He was also responsible for setting up the 4000MW Hirma power project
much before power ministry introduced ultra-mega power projects (UMPP).

NTPC LTD.
Adequate coal supply from Coal India and water availability from Hirakud dam was
ensured. It was a 50:50 JV with Southern Energy, a large American utility. His last
full time assignment was Reliance power and towards 2002, he decided to call it
quits.
When Mr. Kapur reflects his entire journey, he remembers NTPC fondly. It is the
company he has built brick by brick. In his own words he says – professionally, I set
the foundation for an organisation (NTPC) that has achieved great heights and
hopefully soar high. Personally, I have inculcated the right values and attitude in the
future generation. In the evening of my life, what more can I ask for?
CONCLUSION
Today, thanks in large part to the legacy of Mr. Kapur and his team, NTPC continues
to thrive. It has close to 23000 employees and boasts annual revenue of more than
$ 12 billion. It is ranked among the world's best and largest power producer and
energy trader. Very recently, on 31 March 2017, NTPC became a 50000MW plus
company, which is an achievement of sorts at the national and international level.
The saga of NTPC is woven into the life and experiences of DV Kapur. As Dr Deepak
Jain, ex-Dean, INSEAD, puts it – Dr. Kapur was a rare traveller. We are fortunate to
have the opportunity to learn from his adventures and achievements. His legacy will
inspire future generations to build on what he, so brilliantly, has done.
NTPC has been and will remain a happy family ever.
This makes one recall the famous words from Anna Karenina of Leo
Tolstoy
“All happy families are happy alike, all unhappy families are unhappy in their own
way.”
(Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy)

NTPC LTD.


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POWER MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE

THE BLOOM IN THE DESERT

The Making of NTPC

THE FIRST CMD OF NTPC

Leaders don`t create foLLowers,

Learning @ The speed of business

NTPC – THE MAKING OF A BUSINESS BEHEMOTH ___________________ 3

From Concept to Reality: ______________________________________ 7

People Power: ______________________________________________ 9

Fashioning a new Management culture: _________________________ 11

Pushing the technology envelope:______________________________ 17

The 48 month challenge: _____________________________________ 17

From Dumps to glory : _______________________________________ 19

Electrifying the power sector: _________________________________ 21

Beyond power: ____________________________________________ 24

Learning @ The speed of business

NTPC – THE MAKING OF A BUSINESS BEHEMOTH

Learning @ The speed of business

(kilowatt-hour). As of 2013, the per capita electricity consumption was at a pitiable

Learning @ The speed of business

Learning @ The speed of business

When NTPC took a target of completing power projects in 48 months, it did so by

Learning @ The speed of business

From Concept to Reality:

Accelerating capacity expansion and improving operational performance.

Learning @ The speed of business

Corporate functions – planning, finance, HRD – provided a policy making platform to

An efficient, innovative and independent contract management division was created

Learning @ The speed of business

An intensive recruitment drive for executive positions was launched in mid-1976

Learning @ The speed of business

Learning @ The speed of business

Fashioning a new Management culture:

Evolved from management philosophy, the systems approach to project

Learning @ The speed of business

Learning @ The speed of business

By January 1980, as system and procedures began to be put in place, as mentioned

Learning @ The speed of business

Another management practice, called Construction management, helped NTPC in

Learning @ The speed of business

Learning @ The speed of business

Learning @ The speed of business

Pushing the technology envelope:

The 48 month challenge:

Learning @ The speed of business

Learning @ The speed of business

From Dumps to glory :

The following measures were quickly taken to turnaround the plant.

Learning @ The speed of business

Learning @ The speed of business

Electrifying the power sector:

After an electrifying performance in NTPC, DV Kapur was appointed as Secretary,

Learning @ The speed of business

Another important institution in need of fundamental reform to energise the sector

An interconnected high voltage transmission network was an absolute necessity for

Towards 1981, in order to meet the objective of an integrated operation of the

Learning @ The speed of business

Learning @ The speed of business

Learning @ The speed of business

He set on an agenda to revitalise the sector. In early 1986, he constituted a

After a stint of almost 35 years in government service, Dr Kapur retired on 30

Learning @ The speed of business

NTPC has been and will remain a happy family ever.