Eleven compete for GAIL chairman post
Eleven GAIL candidates have applied to replace interim chairman Ashutosh Karnatak who took over on August 1 after BC Tripathi stepped down on July 31 (2019).
Six of the 11 will be shortlisted on a combination of rank and experience, according to a GAIL source. Those who applied by the September 23 deadline are BD director Manoj Jain; director finance AK Tiwari; IGL managing director ES Ranganathan; GAIL Gas chief Asit Kumar Jana and APGDC managing director Raman Chadha along with six executive directors: MVR Someswarudu; AN Pandey (HRD); MV Iyer (projects); Santanu Roy; Sanjay Kumar and KB Singh (eastern region).
One IAS officer also applied but his name is not known. A source speculates directors Jain and Tiwari plus EDs Ranganathan, Jana, Roy and Someswarudu are expected to make the shortlist with Jain and Ranganathan frontrunners because Jain is a director and Ranganathan has exposure managing a company and government stakeholders.
Expect a shortlist to be published next week and interviews by end-October or early-November (2019). Whoever wins will have the unenviable responsibility of overseeing GAIL's expected de-merger.