Praveer Sinha to take over as Tata Power MD

Tat a Power on Friday announced the appointment of Praveer Sinha as chief executive officer and managing director with effect from May 1. Sinha succeeds Anil Sardana, whose exit was announced earlier this year.

Tata Power on Friday announced the appointment of Praveer Sinha( pictured) as the firm’s chief executive officer and managing director with effect from May 1. Sinha succeeds Anil Sardana, whose exit was announced earlier this year. Currently, Sinha is CEO & MD of Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (Tata PowerDDL), which has power distribution rights for one of the circles in the Capital.

Both Sardana and Sinha share a similar career trajectory. Like Sinha's current role, Sardana was in charge of Tata Power’s Delhi distribution business before he took over as CEO & MD of Tata Power in 2011. Sinha has been with Tata Power since 2007. He was made CEO and executive director of TPDDL on March 1, 2012. The company is yet to decide on a successor to Sinha at TPDDL. Sinha takes over at a time when one of the major concerns for Tata Power is tackling losses at its Mundra ultra mega power plant (UMPP), which has been struggling financially due to high imported coal prices.

N Chandrasekaran, chairman, Tata Power, said, “Praveer’s extensive experience in the power sector and his ability to drive performance, maximise returns and work seamlessly with stakeholders will be very valuable for Tata Power as it looks to strengthen and expand its position in fastevolving energy market.”

An electrical engineer, Sinha has over three decades of experience in the power sector and has been credited with transforming the power distribution sector and development and setting up of greenfield and brownfield power plants in India and abroad. Sinha holds a Master’s degree in Business Law from the National Law School, Bengaluru, and is a research scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He is also a visiting scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston.

“Tata Power is among the oldest and most iconic companies in the Tata group and it is my privilege to lead such an institution. I look forward to working with all our stakeholders and employees to take this company on its next stage of growth,” said Sinha.

Sardana offered his resignation in January, to be effective from April 30. He was among half a dozen Tata group senior management executives who quit after Chandrasekaran took charge of Tata Sons last year.

Firm sells stake in Panatone Finvest to Tata Sons Tata Power on Friday said it had sold its stake in Panatone Finvest to Tata Sons for ~15.42 billion. The company also entered into an agreement with Panatone for sale of its stake in Tata Communications for ~6.13 billion, it said in a statement.

“The company has entered into a share purchase agreement with Tata Sons for sale of 590,882,000 equity shares in Panatone Finvest, representing 39.98 per cent in Panatone and has also entered into a share purchase agreement with Panatone for sale of 13,396,200 equity shares in Tata Communications, representing 4.7 per cent in Tata Communications,” the company said.