An unexpected change of guard at the petroleum ministry’s secretarial level is certain with S Sundareshan tipped to take over as secretary in the Ministry of Heavy Industries. He will replace B L Meena, who retired on April 30.
Sundareshan joined the petroleum ministry in 2007 as additional secretary and was elevated to secretary in February last year when Murli Deora was the petroleum minister. In a Cabinet reshuffle in January, Deora was shifted to the corporate affairs ministry, while Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy was moved to head the petroleum ministry. Sundareshan is one of the few petroleum secretaries to have moved before completing his full term.
It is also learnt that G C Chaturvedi, a 1977 batch IAS officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre and special DG in the Commonwealth Games’ organising committee, is the front runner for the petroleum secretary’s post. The change comes at a time when the ministry is faced with crucial issues such as the Vedanta’s takeover of Cairn India, falling gas output at RIL’s KG D6 block and rising losses of oil companies.
