A K Srivastava controversially appointed as Nalco chief

Abhay Kumar Srivastava, so far the chairman and managing director of Cement Corporation of India (CCIL) on Friday took over as chairman and managing director of another government-owned concern, the National Aluminium Company Ltd. Nalco is one of the few state owned enterprises that is actually making money; and thus has been dubbed a 'navratna' company.

The term navratna, derived from an ancient Mughal empire, is used by the Indian government to define public sector enterprises that are not actually in the red. Srivastava, a mechanical engineer by profession, takes over from C R Pradhan, who retired as Nalco CMD on Thursday.

Srivastava's appointment is not without controversy, as a shareholder has filed a petition in the Orissa High Court challenging his appointment to the post. The petitioner pointed out that in the interview held for the post of Nalco CMD in 2007, Pradhan, who has been acting CMD since February 2005, was considered the number one candidate, followed by K Srivastava in the second slot.

However, Pradhan's confirmation in the appointment was delayed till 3 August 2009, by which time he had reached retirement age. The petitioner argued that on Pradhan's retirement, a fresh selection process should have been started by the ministry of personnel and the public enterprises selection board (PESB), to give an opportunity to those candidates who had not qualified for the post in the earlier interview.

However, the prime minister's office, in violation of all established guidelines and procedures, appointed Srivastava as CMD long after the validity of the appointment panel had expired, the petitioner pointed out.

An engineer by training, Srivastava has spent almost his entire career of some 30 years in state-controlled companies. Earlier he was with the National Thermal Power Corp. He has also worked with Indian Petrochemicals Corp Ltd for over five years.