The Centre had appointed senior IAS officer Rajesh Pandey as chairman of the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), marking a leadership change at one of India’s key public sector organisations in the power and water resources space.
Mr Pandey belongs to the 1995 batch of the West Bengal cadre. He assumed the charge as the 51st chairman of the corporation on 23 July 2026.
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A rather weighty résumé indeed
Pandey brings around 31 years of civil service experience, with assignments spanning several key departments in the West Bengal government.
He has served as Additional Chief Secretary for the MSME & Textiles Department, Personnel & Administrative Reforms Department, Sports and Youth Services Department, and Co-operation Department. He has also held the post of Secretary in the Consumer Affairs Department.
This breadth of experience gives him exposure to both administrative governance and sector-specific policy work.
A steady hand at the switchboard
His career has also included a long stint in the power sector. Pandey served as Chairman and Managing Director of the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) for more than five years.
During that period, he was also Chairman of New Town Electric Supply Co. Ltd (NTESCL) and Managing Director of the West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (WBSETCL).
In addition, he was Director of Durgapur Projects Limited (DPL) and a member of the governing body of the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA).
These responsibilities contributed to universal electrification and broader planning for the state’s power sector.
What shaped the man now leading DVC?
Pandey’s academic background includes a BTech (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, completed in 1993.
He was also a Fulbright fellow for Leadership Development in 2008 and later earned a Master’s in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University in the United States in 2010.
This mix of technical training and policy education is part of the profile he brings to DVC’s leadership.
DVC’s press release did not say what immediate administrative priorities Pandey will take up in the new role.
FAQs
Q1: Who is Rajesh Pandey, the new DVC chairman?
Rajesh Pandey is a 1995-batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre who assumed charge as the 51st Chairman of Damodar Valley Corporation on July 23, 2026.
Q2: What is the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC)?
Damodar Valley Corporation is a central public sector organisation that manages power generation and river valley development in eastern India.
