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usiness players have welcomed the newly-appointed president director of state-owned power company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) Nur Pamudji, expecting an immediate improvement in a company that has long been plagued with inefficiencies.

Nur, previously the energy director of PLN, will replace media tycoon Dahlan Iskan, who was recently appointed as State-Owned Enterprises Minister.

Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) chairman Sofjan Wanandi said the appointment of Nur, a PLN career executive, would continue the sound policies and commitment to transparency that were initiated under Dahlan.

“We expect PLN to maintain a good relationship with us, building on what has been already forged by Dahlan,” said Sofjan on Wednesday.

Sofjan said that under the new leadership, PLN had to prioritize the completion of the 10,000 megawatt (MW) power plant project and improve the firm’s efficiency through gasification.

The project, launched in 2006, is aimed at overcoming a power deficit in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, which resulted from the absence of new power plants following the financial crisis of 1997.

“We hope the new president can perform better and improve services to customers by limiting power cuts,” said the chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association, Ade Sudradjat, referring to the specific needs of the textile industry in terms of receiving higher power capacity in order to increase machine efficiency.

An electricity deficit in several manufacturing areas has cost the industry dearly, as PLN have regularly applied blackouts.

Minister Dahlan said that the selection of Nur was based on his successor’s “clean” record and relatively young age. “I’m prioritizing the younger generation because I believe that only the young can forge progress,” said Dahlan, adding that Nur will be officially inaugurated today.

Dahlan said Nur’s priority would be to manage numerous unfinished power projects to help avoid blackouts due to electricity shortages, increase the electrification ratio and construct compressed natural gas storage facilities to ensure gas supplies for PLN plants.

Nur’s previous post is to be merged into the directorate of strategic procurement, which is currently headed by Bagiyo Riawan.

PLN is among the country’s biggest companies, with assets worth around US$43 billion as of June. However, a deep-rooted graft has long undermined its performance.

Many of its top executives have ended up in prison due to graft cases.

In response to his new job, Nur merely said that he “would lay out all of his strategies on the table after his inauguration.”