Work begins to pick the next ONGC chairman
Work has begun within the oil ministry and PESB to select the next ONGC chairman, but nobody on the current ONGC board is eligible.
On December 5 (2024), PESB undersecretary Mohammad Jainuddin sent a one-page memo to oil secretary Pankaj Jain, enclosing a five-page job description to replace Arun Kumar Singh, whose three-year term ends less than a year from now, on December 6 (2025). Singh retired as Bharat Petroleum chairman before he was appointed ONGC chairman (but not managing director) by a search-and-selection committee.
This was the first case of a retired person winning the ONGC chairman role. Before Singh was appointed CEO and chairman, ONGC was headed by a chairman and managing director.
A source believes the PESB's decision to send the job description to the oil ministry indicates the government is done with "the experiment" of appointing a retired PSU chief to head ONGC. Jainuddin writes he is "directed to invite a reference" to the oil ministry's 'office memorandum' of September 6 (2024) on 'Selection for the post of chairman, ONGC'.
He continues: "The job descriptions for the posts of chairman/CMD/MD/directors across CPSEs (state-owned companies) were revisited by the PESB and keeping in view the functional requirements, the job descriptions were modified." Accordingly, "the final JD is enclosed."
The oil ministry was "requested to agree to the job description for the post" and send its response to the PESB "within seven days." The PESB's job description has set the vacancy date as December 7 (2025), a day after Singh steps down.
Crucially, the minimum age is set at 45. To be eligible, candidates within the company should have two years to retire from the date of vacancy.
However, outside candidates must have at least three years to retire. Only HR director Manish Patil has enough time left before he retires in February 2028.
Sadly for Patil, however, HR as a discipline is excluded from the PESB eligibility criteria. Director finance Vivek Tongaonkar retires in April 2026, and director production Pankaj Kumar retires in June 2026.
Director technology and field services OP Singh retires in December 2024 and director exploration Sushma Rawat retires in June 2025.