Hunt for ONGC boss begins, 10 in the fray

The government headhunters PESB will hold interviews to select the next chairman and managing director of Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) on October 19. Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) will interview, Mr Ravi Narayan Bastia, the man who discovered India’s biggest gas field, and nine others who have applied for the top job of ONGC, on October 19, official sources said.

Mr Bastia, who quit ONGC in 1996 to join Reliance Industries, is credited with discovering the Dhirubhai-1 gas field at the Krishna Godavari basin deep-sea block D6 in 2002. It was ranked as the biggest gas find in the world that year.

A senior vice-president heading exploration operations at the Mukesh Ambani-run company, he is also credited with RIL’s Mahanadi Basin gas finds. He was awarded the Padma Shree, the nation’s fourth highest civilian honour, in 2007.

Mr Bastia is making a homecoming and has applied for the post of chairman and MD, ONGC, sources said. The current incumbent, Mr R.S. Sharma, retires on January 31, 2011, on attaining the super-annuation age of 60 years.

Sources said that the others in the fray include Mr Sudhir Vasudeva, director (offshore), ONGC; Mr D. K. Saraf, director (finance), ONGC; and Mr R. S. Butola, MD, ONGC Videsh Ltd.

Acting oil regulator, Mr S. K. Srivastava and OIL director (exploration), Mr B. N. Talukdar, had also applied at the close of application on May 6. Incidentally, PESB will hold interviews to select the new chairman of Indian Oil Corp (IOC) on September 29.

Mr Butola and Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) director (refineries) R K Singh are among the 17 candidates in the fray for the top job at the nation’s largest oil firm. Mr S. K. Srivastava, Oil India director (finance), Mr T. K. Ananth Kumar, Hindustan Petroleum Corp director (finance), Mr B. Mukherjee and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical MD, Mr U. K. Basu are the other applicants for top job at IOC, they said.

The vacancy for IOC chairman arose after the government declined an extension of service to Mr Sarthak Behuria till his superannuation age of 60 in 2012.

He completed his five-year term in February end and is eligible for an extension as the chairman till early 2012 but the government refused him the option.

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