Race Heats Up for Director (HR) Post at BHEL Ahead of PESB Interview

The contest for the post of Director (Human Resources) at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited has drawn at least seven contenders from within BHEL and rival public sector enterprises, with the Public Enterprises Selection Board scheduled to hold interviews for the position on July 28.

Director (HR) is a board-level post at BHEL, the country's largest power equipment manufacturer, with responsibility for the company's workforce policy, industrial relations, and talent management across its manufacturing units and project sites nationwide. Board-level HR appointments at central public sector enterprises go through the Public Enterprises Selection Board, which shortlists candidates from within the company and from other PSUs before recommending a name to the administrative ministry for final clearance, a process that typically takes several weeks after the interview stage. PESB recommendations for board-level posts are typically valid for a limited period, after which a fresh selection process may be required if the ministry does not act on the panel's recommendation in time.

Among the contenders is Jignesh Thakorbhai Ray, General Manager at Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited in Vadodara, whose candidacy brings a state power utility background to a post more commonly filled from within central PSU ranks. Atul Kumar Chaudhary, currently Secretary at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, represents a markedly different profile, having moved through regulatory rather than corporate HR roles before this candidacy, making him something of an outlier among the field.

The remaining candidates carry PSU HR and general management backgrounds more typical of board-level contests. Tekkam Sridhar, Senior Executive Director at the Housing and Urban Development Corporation, and Venkatramanan G, Executive Director at Indian Oil Corporation's Rajkot operations, both bring experience from outside BHEL, while Udit Jain, Executive Director (HR) at Indian Oil Corporation in New Delhi, arrives with a specialisation closer to the post itself, having already run a large HR function at a comparable Maharatna company.

Two candidates come from within BHEL's own ranks: Santosh Kumar Gupta, General Manager at the company's Haridwar unit, and Raju MVSN, General Manager at its Bengaluru unit, both representing internal continuity candidacies against a field dominated by outside contenders. Dr Sandhya Kar, General Manager at BHEL Hyderabad, is the field's sole internal woman candidate, adding a diversity dimension to a contest otherwise dominated by external applicants.

BHEL has gone through several board-level vacancies in recent selection cycles as directors have retired without immediate successors being cleared, a pattern that has drawn scrutiny given the company's ongoing push to diversify beyond its traditional thermal power equipment business into renewable energy and defence manufacturing, areas where workforce planning decisions rest with the HR function and where hiring and retraining needs differ sharply from the company's legacy manufacturing base.

PESB interviews for board-level posts typically involve a panel assessment of each candidate's track record, followed by a recommendation ranking candidates rather than naming a single choice, with the administrative ministry retaining discretion over the final selection from among the board's recommended names. This structure means the interview stage, while decisive, does not by itself settle the appointment, and past BHEL board selections have occasionally seen the ministry's final choice diverge from the PESB panel's top-ranked candidate after further scrutiny at the ministry and Public Enterprises Selection Board's parent department.

The Public Enterprises Selection Board's interview for the post is scheduled for July 28, after which its recommendation will go to the Ministry of Heavy Industries for final clearance.