Government plans to merge all state-run hydropower firms;thermal projects may be transferred to NTPC

The government plans to create public sector energy giants with a massive restructuring exercise that will amalgamate all state-run hydropower firms and transfer their thermal projects to NTPC to create strong companies that can take on the rapidly growing private conglomerates. The exercise aims to merge all four central hydropower companies.

According to the proposal, NHPC, SJVN, THDC and NEEPCO may be merged into one organisation that will control 10,000 MW of existing and 32,500 MW of proposed capacity. It would also transfer 4,600 MW of thermal plants controlled by hydro firms to NTPC, which in turn would shed 1,400 MW of its hydropower plants if the proposal goes through.

The proposal has cheered executives of big firms like NHPC but it has created a flutter among executives of smaller companies as they feel smaller firms were created for specific regional requirements. Also, amalgamation can create redundancies or shift a senior manager in a small firm to a mid-ranking position in the big one. It would also eliminate several positions of directors and chief executives.


ET