ONGC prepares for 3rd interim chairman in a row; 9 shortlisted for top job

ONGC is without a regular chairman and managing director since April 2021

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is preparing for a record third interim chairman as no full-time head of India’s most profitable company has yet been selected in 17 months since the post fell vacant, sources said.

ONGC is without a regular chairman and managing director since April 2021. Subhash Kumar, the senior-most director on the company board and the director for finance, was named officiating head after Shashi Shanker superannuated on March 31, 2021. And when Kumar retired on December 31, 2021, Alka Mittal, Director for Human Resources, was given an additional charge.

Mittal will superannuate at month-end and unless she is given an extension, the next senior-most director, Rajesh Kumar Srivastava, Director (Exploration), is likely to be named as interim head, two officials with knowledge of the matter said.

The third interim chairman - a record for ONGC - is being talked about as the government is yet to even identify a full-time head.

A search-cum-selection committee, which was in February this year tasked to identify suitable candidates, began work only this month after terms of reference were finalised.

The panel has shortlisted nine candidates on the basis of higher eligibility age limit proposed by the oil ministry, which brought most existing directors - who otherwise were ineligible to even apply, in the zone of consideration, they said.

The shortlisted include Mittal and Srivastava as well as three other directors on the ONGC board - Om Prakash Singh, Director (Technology & Field Services); Pankar Kumar, Director (Offshore) and Anurag Sharma, Director (Onshore).