(T.E.T)
Government headhunter PESB has picked a non-upstream executive, Ranjit Rath to head India’s second largest state oil and gas producer, Oil India Ltd. Rath, 50, who is currently chairman and managing director of Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd (MECL), was selected after interviews of five applicants on March 9, a notification from the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) said. He was selected for the post of chairman and managing director ahead of two directors on the Oil India board and another executive director of the company.
Oil India’s current chairman and managing director Sushil Chandra Mishra will superannuate on June 30 this year. Rath has been heading MECL, a mini-ratna central public sector enterprise under Ministry of Mines, since November 2018. His name, after getting clearance from anti-corruption bodies like CVC and CBI, will be sent to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for vetting. According to his Linkedin profile, he joined engineering consultancy firm Engineers India in 1996. The PESB notification said those interviewed included Oil India’s director (finance) Harish Madhav and its director (operations) Pankaj Kumar Goswami. Oil India executive director Agadh Medhi and Madras Fertilizer Ltd chairman and managing director Saravanan U were the other candidates interviewed.
