HPCL chairman interviews held
Interviews to choose the next Hindustan Petroleum CMD took place on November 13 (2024).
Social media posts about the impending interview began circulating on or around November 5 (2024). "They (the online posts) said the interview would be on November 13 (2024)," says a source.
"Some even gave a list of candidates." He adds a Search Committee headed by PESB chairwoman Mallika Srinivasan held the interviews through videoconferencing.
Others on the Search Committee were former IndianOil chairman B Ashok, oil secretary Pankaj Jain and the finance and law secretaries. Unconfirmed reports say those interviewed included HPCL marketing director Amit Garg, refineries director Shunmugavel Bharathan, IGL managing director Kamal Kishore Chatiwal, Bharat Petroleum marketing director Sukhmal Jain, and HPCL current acting CMD and finance director Rajneesh Narang.
"The interview happened between 9am and 11am," said a candidate. "I cannot tell you who was on the interview panel; that is confidential."
Bharathan and Chatiwal were among eight candidates interviewed by the PESB for this job on June 14 (2024). None were found suitable, and the PESB advised the oil ministry "to choose an appropriate course of further action for selection including a search-cum-selection committee."
Unlike PESB interviews, where the result is published the same day, the Search Committee privately forwards its recommendation(s) to the oil ministry. Pushp Kumar Joshi retired as HPCL chairman on August 31 (2024); finance director Rajneesh Narang has been holding additional charge as CMD since September 1 (2024).