Seven Candidates Shortlisted For Top Job At ONGC
As per the sources, Oil India Ltd (OIL) chairman and managing director Ranjit Rath, who is seen as a frontrunner, is among those short-listed candidates. Rath, 54, is making a second attempt at the ONGC top job after being shortlisted last year, when the government opted instead to extend Singh's tenure
New Delhi: Seven candidates have been shortlisted for the top job at state-run gas major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and are likely to appear before a search-cum-selection committee this week ahead of an appointment of a successor to chairman and managing director Arun Kumar Singh, sources said.
This is the second round of interviews, which comes after 18 applicants were screened on August 18, with the field subsequently narrowed to seven. The selection will be made by a 3-member search-cum-selection committee, comprising the chairperson of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB), the oil secretary and a former Indian Oil chairman as an outside expert.
As per the sources, Oil India Ltd (OIL) chairman and managing director Ranjit Rath, who is seen as a frontrunner, is among those short-listed candidates. Rath, 54, is making a second attempt at the ONGC top job after being shortlisted last year, when the government opted instead to extend Singh's tenure.
The other short-listed candidates, the sources said, include ONGC Videsh Ltd managing director Rajarshi Gupta, 59; ONGC director for technology and field services Vikram Saxena; ONGC director for strategy and corporate affairs Satyam Kumar; OVL director for operations Dulal Halder; MRPL director (finance) Devendra Kumar and IOC director (marketing) SP Shrivastava.
The selection process has drawn attention over a one-off relaxation in the age eligibility criterion, allowing candidates up to 59 years of age - a departure from the existing 58-year limit and the recent relaxation to 60 years in the case of state-run power producer NTPC, as well as ONGC, in 2022.
The government earlier relaxed the age criterion for the ONGC appointment, allowing applications from candidates who had not attained 59 years on the date of occurrence of the vacancy - December 7, 2026, when Singh's extended tenure ends. Under the existing norms, the upper age limit is generally 58 years for internal candidates and 57 years for external candidates, while the superannuating age for public-sector executives is 60.
As per the advertisement, the maximum age of an applicant should be 59 years on the date of vacancy and that any employment or extension beyond 60 years would be on a contractual basis. However, Gupta’s short-listing has raised questions because he is supposed to be about 59 years and five months old on December 7, making him ineligible under a literal reading of the 59-year condition in the advertisement.
The sources, however, said that candidates, who chose not to apply because they would cross the age limit by the date of vacancy, could challenge the selection process if Gupta is ultimately appointed.