Govt appoints 3 independent directors on ONGC board

More than a year after it sacked three UPA-appointed independent directors on ONGC board, the government has appointed ex-IFS Ajai Malhotra and two others as non-oficial part-time directors on the board of the nation's biggest oil and gas producer.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) in a regulatory filing said that Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas vide letter dated November 20, 2015 has appointed Ajai Malhotra ex-IFS, IIT-Bombay Professor Shireesh Balwant Kedare and Chennai-based chartered accountant K M Padmanabhan as independent directors on the company board. The appointment will be "for a period of three years from the date of the notification i.e. November 20, 2015 or until further orders, whichever is earlier," ONGC said.

In September last year, former Power Secretary P Umashankar, chartered accountant S Ravi and 

former BPCL Chairman and Managing Director R K Singh ceased to be independent directors on the board after the company did not move a resolution before the shareholders seeking confirmation of their appointment.