Until a few years back, whenever press conferences of the Indian Oil Corporation chairman got over, a person with a smile beneath his spectacles and some files in his hands would help out journalists with figures they always sought — the revenue loss on sale of petroleum products.
The man, Praveen Kumar Goyal, is now IndianOil’s director, in charge of its finances. Fifty-six-year-old Goyal has taken over at a time when turning revenue losses into profits on its books and having enough cash for business still remain a challenge for the company. Goyal is perceived by his colleagues as a “meticulous” person who likes to take problems head on. His elevation to the board of directors comes after serving the company as an executive director (international trade, information systems and optimisation). After working for over three decades with the leading petroleum marketer, the new director for finance now has a challenging assignment — to manage the company’s finance and, at the same time, stick to the government-dictated pricing policies.
