NTPC was established as a public sector power utility by Government of India on November 7, 1975. The reason NTPC was created was to bridge the huge electricity supply-demand gap and the State Electricity Boards were not able to cope up with the situation. True to the expectation, it played a key role in the development of the sector, lighting every fourth bulb in the country, become the largest power utility of India, Sixth largest thermal power generator in the World and the Second most efficient utility in terms of capacity utilization. Rightly, NTPC has set for itself the Vision statement “To be one of the world’s largest and best power utilities, powering India’s growth”.

Originally, NTPC had the responsibility for electricity generation from thermal source and transmission of the same. However, as per the Electricity Laws Amendment Act 1998, when "Transmission" became separate activity, the transmission portion of the Corporation was culled together to form part of the “Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd”. Today, NTPC has diversified interests, ranging from Hydro power generation, distribution, power trading etc. It has also formed joint venture companies with Railways, SAIL, Formerly BSES, TNEB etc respectively for pursuing different business interest.

NTPC's share on 31 Mar 2004 in the total installed capacity of the country was 19.4% (21,749 MW) and it contributed 27.1% (151 Bus) of the total power generation of the country during 2003-04. As on date the installed capacity of NTPC is through its 13 coal based (17,480 MW), 7 gas based (3,955 MW) and 3 Joint Venture Projects (314 MW). NTPC acquired 50% equity of the SAIL Power Supply Corporation Ltd. (SPSCL). This JV company operates the captive power plants of Durgapur (120 MW), Rourkela (120 MW) and Bhilai (74 MW). NTPC is also managing Badarpur thermal power station (705 MW) of Government of India.

NTPC strongly believes in achieving organizational excellence through Human Resources and follows "People First" approach to leverage the potential of its over 23,000 employees to fulfill its business plans. The “Personnel & Administration (P&A)” function was re-christened as HR to align the function with the HR Vision of "enabling the people of NTPC to be a family of committed world class professionals making it a learning organisation" and bring sensitivity and human face to the function. It has formulated an integrated HR strategy which rests on four building blocks of HR viz. Competence building, Commitment building, Culture building and Systems building; and all HR initiatives are undertaken within this broad framework.S

From the inception of the Company, the philosophy of NTPC has been to build talent through “Executive Training” scheme of recruitment and induction. Besides the one year training, the new recruits are attached with Senior executives under a systematic and formal 'Mentoring System' of the company. This way, company specific skills can be (has been) developed and nurtured among the employees . Today, more than 50 % of the executive strength in the company is through this talent building mechanism. The Executive trainees are the back bone of Engineering, Chemistry, HR, Finance, IT and Hydro functions of the company.

A systematic Training plan has been formulated for ensuring minimum seven mandays training per employee per year and includes level-wise planned intervention designed to groom people for assuming positions of higher responsibility, as well as specific need-based interventions based on scientific Training Needs Analysis. Opportunities for long term education are also provided yo employees through tie ups with reputed Institutions like IIT-Delhi, (M. Tech in Power Generation Technology), MDI-Gurgaon (Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management ), BITS- Pilani (B.Tech) etc.

Demonstrating its high concern for people, NTPC has developed strong employee welfare, health & well-being and social security systems leading to high level of commitment. NTPC offers best quality of life through beautiful townships with all amenities such as educational, medical and recreational opportunities for employees and their family members. The motivation to perform and excel is further enhanced through a comprehensive NTPC Rewards and Recognition system. A culture of celebrating achievements and a strong focus on performance are a way of life in NTPC.

NTPC has institutionalized "Development Centers" in the company to systematically diagnose the current and potential competency requirements of the employees with the objective of enhancing their development in a planned manner.

Due to innovative people management practices there is a high level of pride and commitment amongst employees as reflected in the "Best Employers in India-2003" survey by Hewitt Associates in which NTPC bagged coveted third rank. Continuous efforts are being made by NTPC to leverage the potential of its employees and become a strategic business partner.

For more details, please log on to www.ntpc.co.in

Some of the Awards & Accolades

More awards, log on to www.ntpc.co.in/otherlinks/awards.shtml