IndianOil on cost-cutting drive under Sahney
Three months ago, oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri made a casual joke, praising IndianOil chairman Arvindar Singh Sahney's business acumen.
And Sahney is on a cost-cutting drive, living up to the praise. Sahney is said to have given more power to IndianOil's finance department, increasing the monitoring of all costs.
"Multiple steps are being taken to increase operational efficiency," says an officer. Sahney's drive comes after an awkward exchange during the Advantage Assam 2.0 investment and infrastructure summit on February 24 (2025).
Puri got a laugh out of the audience at the summit when he said that Sahney is a "bania" - a member of India's merchant caste. Sahney appeared to take the joke well, smiling in the front row along with other heads of state-owned companies.
Confirmed from within, IndianOil insiders say Sahney has brought a new ethos to the company since taking charge on November 13 (2024). "The major cost-cutting measures have kicked in since April 1 (2025), and everyone is feeling it now," says an officer.
Budgets are tight across marketing, operations and CSR. A team from Mumbai, headed by an ED, visited Kolkata to review idling assets like petrol stations whose sales have dropped because of a range of factors, like new highways elsewhere.
"The chairman is himself reviewing idle assets," he stresses. "Action is now bound to be taken and costs saved."
During transfers this year (2025), officers have moved from locations like depots and bottling plants into areas with gaps like sales. However, the sales department has cancelled annual dealer gatherings to save costs.
Sales managers now meet dealers one-on-one by visiting them in person or videoconferencing. IndianOil has 16 state offices with 70 area sales offices for oil alone and separate offices for LPG.
Every area office used to hold annual dealer gatherings. "That's history now," says an officer.
"We might have saved up to 4% expenditure in our sales area." In HR, the intake of people has fallen with IndianOil outsourcing many services.