Petronet-LNG shortlists 13 dir. tech candidates
With an annual salary of Rs1cr ($140,000) is it any surprise 85 candidates applied to replace Petronet-LNG director technical Rajender Singh, who retires on July 19? Petronet-LNG has shortlisted 13 candidates from this list to call for interviews, scheduled on April 17.
Among them are Indraprastha Gas managing director ES Ranganathan; APGDC boss R Chadha; Engineers India executive director Vartika Shukla; IndianOil executive director pipelines Pramod Narang; IndianOil LNG chief K Ramu; GSPC LNG president Anil Joshi; NTPC assistant general manager Yashpal Singh; OPaL president Manoj Srivastava and Petronet-LNG senior vice-president and Dahej plant head SB Singh. "Narang has a strong chance," we hear.
"He's close to IOC director pipelines AK Singh." This is important because IOC is a Petronet-LNG promoter.
Another strong contender is Ramu with experience managing IndianOil's just-inaugurated Ennore LNG terminal. Also trying hard is GSPC LNG president Joshi known for his close relationship with Rajender Singh.
"They worked together at ONGC and Petronet-LNG," we are told. "They've been seen having frequent lunches together."
Petronet-LNG's own SB Singh is likewise spoken about as a contender but his chances of success are considered slim. "Interviews are yet to be held so all depends on that," said Singh, when contacted on April 12.
"Everyone should be given a fair chance, including outsiders." Whoever wins will have overall responsibility for the expansion of Petronet-LNG's Dahej terminal from 15m t/y to 17.5m t/y.