ONGC’s Chairman & MD Not Selected In 17 Months: Sources

The sources said that Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) expects to have a third interim chairman as no full-time replacement has been found in the past 17 months.

From April 2021 to present, ONGC did not have a regular Chairman and a Managing Director. After Shashi Shanker's retirement on 31 March, 2022, Subhash Kumar, the finance director and senior most director of companies, has been named officiating head.

A new responsibility was given to Alka Mittal, Director for Human Resources, when Kumar retired in December 2021. Unless her contract is extended, the senior most director will take over for Mittal at the end of the month. The interim head is likely to be Rajesh Kumar Srivastava, Director (Exploration).

In the absence of a full-time head, ONGC is considering its third interim chairman.

Following the finalisation of terms of reference, the search and selection committee that was formed in February began working this month.

Based on a higher age limit proposed by the oil ministry, the panel shortlisted nine candidates, bringing the most existing directions into the zone of consideration who otherwise were not eligible to apply as per the statement.

The list includes Mittal and Srivastava along with the other directors on the ONGC board—Om Prakash Singh, Director; Pankar Kumar, Director; and Anurag Sharma, Director.