Strengthening Institutions To Power Nation: D V Kapur

In a time of tumult and tragedy, a country, its leaders, the companies that oil the engine of economy and the people who run it, shape the ensuing outcome. As we brave the pandemic and emerge stronger, the broader picture of India and its growth come into view. “And an act of building a nation is the combined effort of three pillars- government, civil society and economically successful organisations,” explains, Dr D V Kapur, Founding Chairperson National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited, former bureaucrat and policy maker & author of ‘The Bloom in the Desert - The Making of NTPC.’ 

Speaking at the inaugural episode of the Nation Builders Series, the 92-year-old doyen technocrat reflected on his professional experience to distil the key to building good institutions and thereby build a resilient and empowered nation. Beginning with an observation on the journey of enterprises from their mercantile approach, he reasoned how they have emerged today as partners in nation building.    

The Role Of Corporates 

Highlighting some of the sons of the soil- Reliance, Tata and Adani among others, he explains how these conglomerates have a larger part and bigger contributions to the country than financials figures. “Each of these organizations have made phenomenal contributions. It's not only in the form of giving revenues to the government but also in various other forms like development of skills, managerial manpower, technology and training and that spreads all over the system, all over the country through other organizations,” Dr Kapur explained. 

With boardroom leadership experience in Jacobs H&G, Honda Siel Power Products, DLF, Tata Chemicals, Larsen & Toubro, Ashok Leyland and at GKN Driveline, he believes that the success of managerial manpower lies in culture that is consciously cultivated in an institution and not any particular individual.   

Quoting a survey that validated NTPC’s managerial manpower development capability, Dr Kapur explains how many leaders in private companies have a common origin point with NTPC and how the culture impacted them. He recollected a beneficiary who remarked that the DNA acquired at NTPC drives him even today to achieve his targets in his organisation. 

3 Key Management Parameters 

Dr Kapur, who between 1980-1986 served as the Secretary to the Government of India in the ministries of Power, Heavy Industry and Chemicals & Petrochemicals, recollects his initial days and with Public Sector Units (PSUs) like Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Maruti (before it became Maruti Suzuki) and with NPTC where he served as the founder Chairman-cum-Managing Director. He adds that his learnings from working with PSUs, the government and on the boards of private companies has spotlighted three crucial management parameters to build a resilient and successful organisation namely disciplined project management, a conducive organisational structure and a logical systems approach. 

Project Management as he defines it, is a granular and disciplined approach towards project completion. Stating government data on incomplete projects he adds, “Many of them are in a bad shape, they go behind schedule, and some projects, even in the private sector are not well organized. If all of these are put together, it is the nation’s loss.” 

He advises that institutions should track projects from the beginning and not when the due date for results nears. This he believes would not prepare the project managers but also eliminate last minute overruns that bleed the company. Stating China as an example, he explains how the country with its differential political and ideological stand, is a good case study for infrastructural project management. He notes how the Chinese gorges were all completed on time. Learning from the neighbours, he adds, “Project Managers should be trained periodically to remain updated.”   

He then goes on to add that an agile organizational structure and a logical systems approach where responsibility is fixed, and leaders inside and outside the boardroom are unified and committed to learning, go a long way.  

Thus, with the challenge of recovery stationed along the way, Dr Kapur’s lessons on the makings of good leaders and good enterprises will help the nation as a whole. For he explains how people who build institutions serve as nation builders not just through revenue contribution of taxes but by inculcating reliance and contributing to skill building, capacity building and subsequently spreading the same through the country.