PESB picks Ashok for IOC top job

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Executive Director B. Ashok has been chosen by the public enterprises selection board (PESB) to become the next chairman of the oil marketing company.
Current chairman R.S. Butola will complete his term on May 31, 2014. The PESB was set up with the goal of developing a sound managerial policy for the central public sector enterprises, and, in particular, advising the government on appointments to their top management posts.
Ashok was among six candidates interviewed on October 9 by the PESB. The other candidates included three other IOC executive directors, plus two managing directors, one from Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL), and one from Projects and Development India Ltd (PDIL).
The applicants from IOC all lacked board-level experience.
Analysts, however, said that the selection of an executive director might create a tricky situation as all the existing directors who are more senior in both age and experience to Ashok would have to report to him. B.C. Tripathi, chairman of GAIL, who was the oil industry heavyweight among the candidates expected to be in contention for the position, did not attend the interview.
Though Tripathi has five years to go before hitting the retirement age of 60, he has opted to not interview for chairman positions at both ONGC and now IOC.
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.
(October 10, 2013)