Government to add independent directors on boards of big PSUs
The Indian government is gearing up to overhaul the boards of big public sector companies like BHEL, ONGC, NTPC, BPCL, HPCL, IOC, and SAIL in the next six months.
The main change? More independent non-official directors—at least one-third of each board—so these companies can work more freely and match up with international standards.
Expected benefits of the move
More independent voices on these boards are expected to boost transparency and smarter decision-making.
The appointments will be handled by a special search committee that includes the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) chief.
This follows recent moves at NTPC subsidiaries where board sizes were trimmed for efficiency.
How the appointments will be made
Each board will get at least four new part-time independent directors chosen by a committee that includes top government and industry officials.
Meanwhile, the usual process for picking full-time directors stays as is.