New Delhi
Chairman of Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission, Devendra Kumar Sharma has been elected as President of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) during the General Assembly held at Chengdu , China today on 20″ May, 2025
during the 93rd Annual General Body Meeting and 28th” Congress of ICOLD. The Commission on Dams has 106 member countries, including India. These countries work together for the exchange of knowledge in the fields of planning, design, construction, and safety of dams.
The International Commission on Large Dams (1COLD) provides a forum for the exchange of knowledge and experience in dam engineering. The organization leads the profession in ensuring that dams are built safely, efficiently, economically, and without detrimental effects on the environment. Its original aim was to encourage advances in the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of large dams and their associated civil works by collecting and disseminating relevant information and by studying related technical questions.
India became a member of this Dam Commission in the year 1930. During the long history of 95 years, it is the second time that a president has been elected from India. Earlier, harma was elected as vice president of this commission in Ottawa, Canada in the year 2019.
After his election, Sharma, while addressing member countries of the International Commission on Large Dams, mentioned that coming from a developing country, his election to this post means a change in itself for the Dam Commission. He mentioned that he would work on the dam safety, gender diversity, participation of underrepresented national committees, challenges of climate change for dams, hydro power development in underutilized regions, capacity building and knowledge exchange.
Shri Devendra Kumar Sharma is presently the Chairman, Himachal of Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission and has more than 43 years of experience in energy and water resources sectors in India and abroad. He is also member of the National Security Advisory Board in National Security Council, Govt of India. Prior to joining Regulatory Commission, he worked as Chairman, Bhakra Beas Management Board, Ministry of Power,
Government of India, where he was responsible for managing assets of National Importance, viz, dams and six power houses of having aggregate capacity of 2919 MW and 3705 km long 400 KV and below transmission system. Earlier, he was Managing Director of Himachal
Power Corporation Lid. (a Govt. of Himachal Pradesh Undertaking) from September, 2012 to April, 2017. Mr Sharma has a rural background and comes from village Mehrin Kathla (Khasri) in district Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh.
