Ashish Kumar Goel

Profile Overview

Dr. Ashish Kumar Goel, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1995 batch,currently serving as the Chairman of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL). He assumed this role in July 2023 after returning from central deputation, where he held the position of Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development and served as Director General of the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA).

Educational Background

Dr. Goel possesses a distinguished academic record:

• B. Tech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi
• M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Agra
• M.Sc. in Public Management & Governance from the London School of Economics (LSE), London.

Career Highlights

Throughout his career, Dr. Goel has held several significant positions:

• Divisional Commissioner of Prayagraj, where he led the organization of the Kumbh Mela in 2019, recognized as one of the cleanest and safest iterations of the event.
• Secretary of Rural Development in the Government of Uttar Pradesh
• Managing Director of the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation
• Secretary of Basic Education
• Managing Director, West UP Electricity Distribution Corporation
• District Magistrate and Collector in various districts of Uttar Pradesh including Prayagraj, Agra, Bareilly, Muzaffarnagar, Kanpur Rural & Sultanpur etc.

Achievements and Recognitions

Dr. Goel’s contributions have been acknowledged through various awards:

• Recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration in 2020 for organisation of Kumb Mela 2019 at Prayagraj.
• Honored as the Alumnus of the Year by the IIT Delhi Alumni Association in 2019
• Holder of seven Guinness World Records for initiatives related to Swachh Kumbh, traffic and transportation management, urban beautification, tree plantation, and programs for persons with disabilities
• LSE has made a case study on his management of Kumbh Mela 2019, which is taught in Public Management Course.
• Introduced new technologies in construction of rural roads. Full Depth Reclamation Technology has been successfully used in more than 5000 km roads in Uttar Pradesh.

Initiatives at UPPCL

As Chairman of UPPCL, Dr. Goel has spearheaded several reforms:

• By focussing on installation of protection on substation and distribution transformers, Uttar Pradesh achieved remarkable reduction in transformer damage. In FY 2025-26 (upto May 2025):-
  • damage of Power Transformer reduced by 87% w.r.t. FY 2022-23, 80% w.r.t. FY 2023-24 and 71% w.r.t. FY 2024-25,
  • damage of Distribution Transformer (100 KVA & above) reduced by 64% w.r.t. FY 2022-23, 47% w.r.t. FY 2023-24 and 31% w.r.t. FY 2024-25, and
• Initiated privatisation of 2 UP Discoms namely Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited – Varanasi and Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited – Agra, to improve consumer services and reduce financial burden on the state exchequer.
• Implemented faceless consumer services & O&M of distribution network through “Urban Restructuring” of distribution offices in Kanpur, Meerut, Bareilly & Aligarh cities.
• Creation of UPREV (a new corporation under UPPCL) for establishment of EV charging infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh.