Sunil Jain’s ‘NTPC has a long way to go’, September 7, is naïve in its assumptions. It is obvious that NTPC has been stopped from acting with alacrity on the issues he has mentioned. When the Delhi airport privatisation was under challenge, the courts heard it very quickly — it is likely the government asked the judges to expedite the matter. In the NTPC-RIL case, the government did not see the same urgency. Blaming a public sector organisation is very easy, but wise commentators choose to not look at the constraints under which they function. Till very recently, the petroleum ministry’s stand was that Reliance Industries did not seek its approval prior to bidding and so the contract was not a valid one. How is a PSU chief expected to deal with this?
Sanjay Singh, New Delhi
