JSW Energy steps up search for successor to CEO SS Rao

MUMBAI: Hectic negotiations are on to bring in a successor to SS Rao, joint managing director and CEO of JSW Energy, who is scheduled to give up his current responsibility within three months.

JSW Energy, which got listed in January in one of the largest public offers this year raising Rs 4,500 crore, is looking for a possible replacement to Mr Rao from suitable candidates from within and outside the organisation.

Some of the names that are doing the rounds include RR Pillai, chief operating officer at JSW Energy, and Upinder Singh, COO of Raj WestPower, a unit of JSW Energy.

From among the external candidates, Raaj Kumar, CEO of GMR Energy, has also been sounded out, said people connected with the development. “Mr Rao is relocating to Bangalore from where he will continue to be associated with the group in a new capacity,” said JSW Energy vice-chairman NK Jain.

Mr Rao, 61, was appointed as the joint managing director and CEO, projects in 2007 and was promoted as joint managing director and CEO of the company in August 2007. His term expires in April 2011. He is also on the boards of Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto, 3M India and Graphite India.

He has over 39 years of experience in setting up a greenfield thermal project. Prior to joining JSW, Mr Rao worked with PowerGrid Corporation, NTPC, Mecon India and Aditya Birla Group. JSW Energy is one of the fastest-growing private power companies with a capacity of 3,000 MW and with plans to expand this capacity to 11,400 MW by 2015.

JSW Energy is a key vertical in the Sajjan Jindal-owned, $4-billion JSW Group that also has interests in steel and aluminium. JSW Energy has plans in power generation, transmission, distribution and trading. The company has presence in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Besides power generation, JSW Energy is also working on the manufacture of supercritical boilers, which produce clean fuel as most of such power plants use coal to generate electricity.

GMR Energy CEO Raaj Kumar has also worked with JSW Energy, before leaving it in 2007 to join GMR Energy. JSW Energy has been aggressive in building its generating capacity and had recently acquired a majority stake in a listed coal mine in South Africa for about $50 million. Last week, JSW Energy acquired a 49.8% stake in Royal Bafokeng Capital from Strider Holdings and has the option to buy the remaining 50.2% from Royal Bafokeng Ventures.

JSW Energy can also opt to buy the entire shareholding in Mainsail Trading, another investor in South African Coal Mining, from RBH Resources Holding.