 "PESB selects Ashok as next Indian Oil Chairman")
B Ashok, Executive Director (Retail Sales) at Indian Oil Corp, was today chosen to head the company from June next year.
Government headhunter Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) interviewed six candidates and selected Ashok to head IOC when current Chairman R S Butola superannuates on May 31 next year.
Ashok, 56, who has wide experience in marketing and international operations at IOC, will have a three-year tenure as Chairman.
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His name will now go to the Oil Ministry, which after getting clearances from anti-corruption watchdog Central Vigilance Commission and the Central Bureau of Investigation, will forward it to the Cabinet Committee on Appointments for final ratification.
GAIL Chairman and Managing Director B C Tripathi, who was among 11 candidates shortlisted for interviews for the top job at IOC, did not appear before the PESB today.
Tripathi dropped out of interviews last month for the post of Chairman and Managing Director of Oil and Natural Gas Corp at the last moment.
Sources said IOC's seven directors were ineligible for the post because none of them has the requisite two years of remaining service. The current IOC board comprising of the Chairman and seven functional directors will retire between May 2014 and October 2015.
Of the six IOC executive directors who applied for the top job, only four appeared for interviews today.
Besides Ashok, Sanjiv Singh, ED of Panipat refinery; B D Yadav, ED, Northern Region Pipelines, Panipat, and B S Canth, ED marketing division at Andhra Pradesh state office, appeared for the interviews.
Project & Development India Ltd (PDIL) Chairman M Ravi Kant and Security Printing and Minting Corp Chairman M S Rana also appeared for the interviews, PESB said.
IOC is the world's 88th largest corporation, according to the Fortune Global 500 list, and the largest public corporation in India by revenue. It controls about half of the fuel market in the country and has a 31% share in refining capacity in India.
It owns and operates 10 of India's 22 refineries with a combined refining capacity of 65.7 million tonnes per year.
The government owns 78.92% in IOC.