The search for a new head of India’s biggest LNG importer, Petronet LNG Ltd, started again on Tuesday with the post being re-advertised as the earlier process was questioned by a promoter.
Petronet LNG Ltd on Tuesday issued advertisement seeking applications from persons holding <g data-gr-id="34">director-level</g> position in public and private sector energy companies by July 15. “The incumbent should have exceptional leadership qualities demonstrated by his track record, strong negotiation and communication skills, and familiarity with finance/project management in a large organization, and should have held the position of a Director on the Board of companies in the energy sector (private and public),” it said.
The candidate should not be more than 60 years of age on July 16, 2015. The eligibility criteria is almost the same as the one March 3 advertisement following which seven candidates including Pramod K Bajpai, Director (Finance) of BHEL and <g data-gr-id="32">a IIT</g> Kanpur batchmate of the then Oil Secretary Saurabh Chandra, had applied.
Though Petronet is a <g data-gr-id="38">private</g> listed firm, the Oil Secretary is ex-officio chairman of the company.
Unlike in the past when Petronet MD and CEO was selected by a search committee compromising of all the promoters -- GAIL, IOC, BPCL, ONGC and GdF of France, Chandra constituted a three-member panel headed by ONGC Chairman Dinesh K Sarraf. The committee included two independent directors of Petronet, the first instance of independent directors being involved in <g data-gr-id="35">selection</g> of chief executive of a company.
Sources said the committee’s constitution was questioned by at least one promoter director on not just the inclusion of independent directors on it but also for being headed by Sarraf, who was not the senior most among the promoter directors.
In the March advertisement, the eligibility criteria had been enlarged to include personnel from energy companies as well as those in companies providing construction services to the energy industry instead of previous practice of seeking professionals from oil and gas firms. Bajpai was considered favourite at that <g data-gr-id="45">time</g> but the panel did not recommend a consensus candidate, leading to restarting of the process. Bajpai retired from BHEL on May 31 and will not be eligible to apply this time. Chandra too superannuated in April-end. New Oil Secretary Kapil Dev Tripathi is the new Chairman of Petronet LNG Ltd.
Besides Bajpai, others who had applied included gas utility GAIL Director (Marketing) Prabhat Singh, Oil India Chairman and Managing Director S K Srivastava and the then Engineers India (EIL) head A K <g data-gr-id="29">Purwaha</g>.
Others who applied for the post included GAIL Directors P K Jain and Ashutosh Karnatak, Petronet Director (Finance) R K Garg and its Director (Technical) Rajender Singh, sources said. While <g data-gr-id="47">Purwaha</g> and Jain have since retired, Srivastava is superannuating. Petronet is owned by state-owned oil firms ONGC, GAIL, BPCL and IOC but is registered as a private company and its MD & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has always been appointed by a panel of promoter firms.
Gogoi asks PM to Clear Borah as new OIL CMD
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene to clear the last minute hurdle for Rupshikha Borah’s appointment as the Chairman and MD of Oil India Ltd. In a statement, Gogoi said when the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) had recommended Borah’s name for the top post of the OIL, the last minute glitch was tantamount to <g data-gr-id="73">denial</g> of justice. He said after being found qualified and competent for the top post by the appropriate authority, the last minute delay did not go down well.