This paper presents a comprehensive evaluation of proposed speed loop pseudo derivative feedback (PDF) controller based DTC with speed loop PI based direct torque controller (DTC) for permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drive. The proposed PDF-DTC system significantly improves dynamic response i.e. completely eliminates overshoot in speed, reduces 50% overshoot in electromagnetic torque and has two times faster settling time compared to PI-DTC system during step changes in speed with load disturbance. The proposed controller is verified for different cases viz., speed variation at constant load and variation in the load torque at constant speed. The proposed controller is implemented for 1.5 kW laboratory prototype PMSM drive using FPGA ALTERA cyclone II. Experimental results demonstrates the efficacy of the proposed controller. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.