Akhilesh Pathak Recommended as Director (Projects), Power Grid Corporation

The Public Enterprises Selection Board has recommended the name of Akhilesh Pathak, presently Executive Director (Project Management), to be elevated to the post of Director (Projects), Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, a Schedule A central public sector enterprise.

Power Grid is India's principal interstate electricity transmission utility, and the Director (Projects) post is a board-level role responsible for executing the company's transmission line and substation construction programme, which underpins the evacuation of power from generation projects across the country.

Pathak's elevation comes from within Power Grid's own executive ranks, having served as Executive Director (Project Management) — a senior position overseeing the execution of transmission projects, directly relevant to the board-level project execution role he is now recommended for.

Power Grid's project execution teams have increasingly relied on satellite-based survey tools to speed up right-of-way assessments for new transmission corridors, reducing some of the delays traditionally associated with land-related clearances.

His recommendation follows the standard PESB process of selecting Director-level appointees from a company's own senior executives where in-house expertise on ongoing projects is considered valuable for continuity.

As Director (Projects), Pathak would oversee Power Grid's continued expansion of transmission infrastructure to evacuate power from the renewable energy projects concentrated in Rajasthan, Gujarat and other resource-rich states.

The PESB's recommendation will be sent to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet for final approval before the appointment is formally notified.