Unconfirmed contender list for ONGC Chmn.
Twenty-seven candidates are named on a list of applicants for the ONGC chairman role, which is circulating around.
Oil India chairman Ranjit Rath's name appears prominently on the list, which some feel is plausible. Some at ONGC and Oil India believe the unconfirmed list is authentic, but others doubt it.
What is certain is that current chairman Arun Singh's retirement on December 7 (2025) is fast approaching and that the PESB advertised for his replacement on March 3 (2025). An industry source claims the PESB received many applications by April 1 (2025), including ONGC candidates, candidates from other state-owned companies, and also, surprisingly, many private sector candidates.
"It is common knowledge at Oil India that Dr Rath was urged to apply," says an ONGC source. He speculates that Rath is a top contender.
Rath's name has been circulating for over a year, even when Singh was far from retiring. Now that Singh's retirement is approaching, Rath's experience heading a Maharatna status E&P company is seen as counting in his favour, as well as the fact that the oil ministry appreciates his work.
According to the unconfirmed list, ONGC candidates include a strong contender in Anupam Agarwal, OVL's director finance; Devendra Kumar, director finance at MRPL; executive directors Siddharth Agarwal, Satyan Kumar, S Mukundan, Sanjeev Kumar Janjua (Tripura Asset manager), Prabal Sengupta, Ashok Kumar, Bhupinder Pal Garg and Neeraj Lal; and a relatively junior officer, Vijay Kumar Tarachand Sakhare. Public sector names on the unconfirmed list include GAIL director projects Deepak Gupta, Power Finance Corporation executive director Ali Shah, GAIL executive director projects Atul Kumar Tripathi, Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSLN) senior general manager R Venu Gopal and senior manager Krishna Mohan Srivastava; Rajesh Kumar Singh, chairman and managing director at Bridge & Roof Company; Pudi Hariprasad, an officer from the Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS); Ajay Sinha, a chief general manager at IndianOil; and Piyush Mittal, executive director at IndianOil.
However, the names on the list from the private sector are causing some to wonder whether it is fictitious. Vinay Kumar Singhal is shown on the list as a director at Relaxo Footwear, a well-known shoe brand in India, but with no mention on Relaxo's website.