He was speaking on "Role of CEOs for Making Success of Their Organisations for the Development of Indian Economy" at a corporate meet organised by the National Foundation of Indian Engineers.

Good corporate governance is essential to all stakeholders, including employees, suppliers, customers and bankers, Pant said. "It requires clean definitions of responsibility and a clear understanding of relationships between the organisation's stakeholders and those entrusted to manage resources and deliver the results."

The challenge to CEOs is not simply to ensure that all the elements of corporate governance are effectively in place but that its purposes are fully understood and integrated, he said. "The role of the CEOs is to help build the organisation on its core competencies and strengths, create opportunities and ward off threats and weaknesses."

Comparing the corporate sector with government, the plan panel chief said that the role, responsibility and authority of a CEO is clearly defined, in the government there is at times a diffusion of responsibility and role at the cutting edge level.