June 5 (Punjab Khabarnama) : The government has invited applications from eligible candidates for the appointment of the new chairman of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). This has ended the uncertainty over the continuation of the current chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya. In an advertisement published on its website, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has sought applications by July 3 from engineers, chartered accountants and cost accountants with postgraduate management degrees from leading institutions and at least five years of experience in leadership roles. It said that the eligibility age limit for internal candidates should not exceed 58 years and for external candidates the limit is 57 years. The retirement age is 60 years.
Vaidya took over as the chairman of India’s largest petroleum company on July 1, 2020. He was to retire on August 31, 2023, when he turned 60. However, according to an official order dated August 4, 2023, he was reappointed on contract basis for one year from the date of his retirement i.e. from September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2024, in a rare move. After this, a three-member search-cum-selection committee was constituted to find out who will head the IOC after August 31, 2024. The committee was headed by the Chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB).
It includes Petroleum Secretary and former Chairman of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) M.K. Surana as a member. However, the committee could not do much on the issue of age-eligibility. Sources said that the ministry had initially proposed to allow anyone below 61 years of age to be considered for the post. This made Vaidya eligible for the post. However, the proposal did not get approval from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The government then reintroduced the old system of appointment of heads of public sector undertakings, with the retirement age fixed at 60 years.