JB Bansal favourite for OVL director finance post
Anyone dealing with ONGC Videsh will be keenly watching who fills the company’s director finance post, which fell vacant on December 27 following DK Sarraf’s appointment as director finance at parent company ONGC.
So far interest in this prestigious post has been less than encouraging. PETROWATH learns the PESB advertised the vacancy among PSUs on January 10 but by January 29 had received only five CVs – none of them from oil company candidates.
Three hopefuls are â€کsponsored’ by their respective state-owned companies: MK Mittal, DGM at Rural Electrification Corporation; RP Khandelwal, director finance at Hindustan Insecticides; and SK Jena, chief manager in the finance department at National Aluminium Corporation. Another two aspiring candidates are â€کself sponsored’: Narul Kabir Aktarzzaman, who works in the finance department of the West Eastern Railways; and Brahmananda Pani, a general manager at the National Institute for Smart Government in Hyderabad.
Their CVs are unlikely to be taken seriously. A source reliably informs us that CVs of â€کself-sponsored’ candidates are not considered.
Though at an early stage, the race to become the next OVL director finance is likely to attract much attention, given the importance of the position and the budget he manages. Still too early to talk of favourites, industry sources nonetheless point to JB Bansal, general manager at ONGC’s finance department, as a possible â€کdark horse’.
Bansal was favourite for the director finance post at ONGC but at the last minute ONGC management opted for Sarraf. “Bansal was so angry at being denied the post of ONGC’s director finance that he resigned the next day after Sarraf took charge,†we hear.
“Many saw this as a protest. Then something happened this month and Bansal withdrew his resignation.
†Bansal is now taking an active interest in OVL’s activities and visits its office frequently. “I think I am eligible to apply for this post and will definitely apply,†he tells us.
“I don’t know where these baseless (resignation) rumours are coming from.â€