A Brief Profile:

Dr. R.P. Singh (FNAE) is an internationally acclaimed technocrat, an administrator of repute, author of best-seller books and white papers, and is well known for his significant contributions to the Indian Power Sector. During his 50-year-long career, he has served as the longest serving Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of POWER GRID CORPORATION OF INDIA LTD., from 1996 to 2008. He is largely credited with turning the company into a profit-making power behemoth. He served on the Board of Directors of several private corporations – Azure Global Power, JV of Larsen & Toubro and Sargent & Lundy Canada, Techno Electric, and Vijay Electricals among others. Additionally, he served as Chairperson, BOG of IIT, Guwahati, and NIT, Patna, and has been on the Board of NIT , Kurukshetra, and Management Development Institute, Gurugarm.

His current assignments include rank of Secretary to Govt. of India in assisting the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in its revamping of the power infrastructure. Serving on the Board of L&T Power T&D and Solar, Bajaj Electricals, multiple State Electricity Corporations, Saurya Urja a JV between Govt.of Rajasthan and IL&FS, Cross Border Transmission Co. Ltd a JV of India & Nepal for exchange of power, and Chairperson, Board of Governors (BoG) of Indian Institutes of Technology at Kharagpur, and Bhubaneswar.

Dr. Singh is globally recognized for his innovative and on-the-ground practical approach to bringing economies of scale to projects and operations thereafter. The Honorable Prime Minister (PM) of India, A B Vajpayee, had publicly applauded his efforts as an example for others to emulate while inaugurating a number of PowerGrid’s projects, most notably the Talcher to Kolar HVDC line in the year 2003; the largest in size at that time to carry 2,000 MW the super highway connecting East & South India; and many National Power Transmission Grid Systems and Modern Load Dispatch Centers (LDC). These were planned, executed, and completed well ahead of schedule during his tenure as CMD, despite many apprehensions from national & international agencies including the WORLD BANK, ADB etc.. the financing agency. Dr. Singh took the lead in promoting interconnections of Asian countries; while the inter-connections with Nepal and Bhutan are already operating, the interconnections with Pakistan & Sri Lanka that were planned way back in the late nineties and were on the verge of finalization did not kick-start due to last minute ditches.

Dr. Singh’s expertise in grid management and recovery is recognized globally. In November 2003, he was invited by the United States Department of Energy and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) following the brown-out of the Northeast,USA due to grid collapse. He has been responsible for restoration and normalization of grid operations during many natural calamities in India, including the Orissa Super Cyclone in the year 1999. Following the Gujarat earthquake at Bhuj in 2001, Dr. Singh took the challenge of restoring damaged transmission systems in record time and was applauded during inauguration by the PM, A.B.Vajpayee.

He is the recipient of many prestigious national and international awards including from the World Bank, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI, USA), and the prestigious SCOPE Excellence Award of GOI. Dr. Singh was Chairman of the AFRO-ASIAN group of power systems in the late 90’s. He was president of CIGRE India , 2001 to 2004. Additionally, he was Chairman of international power systems engineers of countries that constituted more than 60 GW capacity from 2005 to 2008.

Dr. RP Singh holds degrees of Bachelor & Master of Engineering from IIT, BHU along with numerous professional honors acquired during the course of his illustrious career.