For a corporate leader, a quality which pays rich dividend is the ability to convince others, not for the sake of convincing but with conviction and R.S.P. Sinha, Chairman and MD, MTNL is one of those corporate leader, who have this quality in dollops.

In fact, it was not too long back when in the wake of the stiff competition from private operators, the governmental assistance became essential for the PSUs to survive. It was more pronounced in the case of MTNL and BSNL that were in the line of competitive fire from private establishments of the likes of Bharti and Reliance. But the government merely aggravated the stand off with the imposition of a rural telecom fee on the PSUs.

It was only after a long tussle that they won the relief. And the man who was behind this mission was no other than R. S. P. Sinha, the then Director, Finance, VSNL, and the present Chairman and MD, MTNL. He very adroitly got around the government barriers. Sinha took over as Chairman & Managing Director, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) in 2004. His appointment sparked off a controversy, as the ITS cadres were against the move. However, the brouhaha died down as soon as his management prowess came to the fore.

In fact, since the beginning of his career, Sinha has handled a fair number of top assignments. Prior to his appointment as the MTNL CMD, he served as officiating Chairman & Managing Director, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited from 2003 to 2004. He has served as Director (Finance), on board of MTNL, as well as other PSUs.

A highly erudite person, Sinha has many degrees under his belt. He has graduation in Engineering (Elect.) and a masters degree in Business Management (Finance). He also holds CAIIB, LLB and ICWA degrees. He showed exceptional professional expertise when he was in Hindustan Organic Chemicals Limited (A mini-Navratana) as Director (Finance). It was he who handled the first Public Issue of Rs100 crore in 1994, by any PSU, which was over-subscribed by 13 times. He has earned his share of praise for this formidable feat.

In 1999, during his tenure as Director (Finance), VSNL came out with a successful GDR issue of US$185 million as part of government disinvestments. This included public issues within the country. It created a bullish sentiment among the investors, as Rs.10 share was sold at a premium of Rs. 741 per share. It was during his directorial stint at VSNL that the PSU got listed in New York Stock Exchange. He was also actively involved in the disinvestments of VSNL.

After the disinvestment, VSNL management was taken over by the Tata Group. The new management was prompt in offering his reappointment as a board director. Sinha declined the offer and joined MTNL instead. The reason behind his proposed reappointment was his directorial capabilities which were there for all to see. A man of conviction, Sinha has proved that for a man of passion and self-belief, there is no target which can remain un-achievable for long.