RP Gupta’s Tenure at SECI Cut Short; MNRE Secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi Takes Over as CMD

The Central government has abruptly terminated the services of Rameshwar Prasad Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), well before the scheduled end of his tenure. The termination order, issued on May 10, did not cite any specific reason for the move, which came more than a month before the completion of his two-year term.

A retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, Gupta was appointed to lead SECI on June 13, 2023. Prior to this role, he served as Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Following his exit, Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Secretary in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), has been given additional charge as CMD of SECI.

Though the government order remained silent on the reason for Gupta’s removal, sources indicated it followed a controversial decision to allow Reliance Power to bid for a SECI tender despite procedural concerns.

SECI, a Navratna central public sector enterprise under the MNRE, is the nodal agency responsible for driving India’s renewable energy capacity growth, especially in solar power. However, the organisation has recently come under criticism over project execution delays and market inefficiencies.

Despite its pivotal role in expanding India’s green energy footprint—where renewable energy now constitutes nearly half of the country’s installed power capacity—SECI’s recent setbacks have raised concerns about transparency and operational efficiency within the sector.