New Delhi: A day after terminating the tenure of Rameshwar Prasad Gupta as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has assigned additional charge of the position to the New and Renewable Energy Secretary, Santosh Kumar Sarangi.
An order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Monday said, “The competent authority has approved assignment of additional charge of the post of Chairman & Managing Director, Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, till the appointment of a regular incumbent or until further orders, whichever is earlier.”
The ACC terminated the services of RP Gupta with immediate effect through an order dated May 10. Gupta’s term was expected to come to an end next month. The notice did not mention the reasons behind “immediate termination of services.”
SECI is a Navratna PSU and is one of the Renewable Energy Implementing Agencies (REIAs) of India. It is primarily responsible for floating tenders for setting up solar, wind and hybrid projects and selecting successful bidders through a competitive bidding process. SECI has been tasked with tendering 20 GW of Renewable Energy (RE) projects every year to attain India's target of putting in place 500 GW of non-fossil fuel power generation capacity by 2030. In an interview with PSU Watch in September 2024, Gupta had said that the company is planning a foray into RE power generation and plans to put in place 10 GW of green power generation capacity by 2030. SECI also has plans to go public by FY2726-27.
Over the last year, SECI's name has appeared in a few controversies. The US DoJ issued a five-count criminal indictment order in November 2024, accusing Adani Group’s chairman Gautam Adani and several of his business associates and former officials of Azure Power of indulging in bribery to secure contracts with power distribution companies for sale of power. The order mentioned SECI as well.
In November, SECI debarred Reliance Power and its subsidiary Reliance NU BESS from participating in any of its future tenders for three years for submitting a fake document in a tender floated by the state-run entity in June 2024. However, in December 2024, SECI withdrew its order following the Delhi High Court's stay on the company's debarment. Earlier this month, Reliance Power Ltd's subsidiary Reliance NU Suntech Private Ltd signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with SECI.
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