Vaidya search panel meets
A search committee has made some progress towards selecting the next IndianOil chairman to replace SM Vaidya.
A month after the ACC ordered its creation, the search committee held its first meeting on November 7 (2023), attended by only two of the three members: the PESB chairperson, Mallika Srinivasan, and oil secretary Pankaj Jain. Another member, MK Surana, former CMD of Hindustan Petroleum, was absent.
At the meeting, the committee first decided on the eligibility criteria. "They have set an age limit of 60 years," says a source, "replicating the criteria set for ONGC chairman before Arun Singh was appointed."
This is a departure from the standard practice of having an age limit of 57 for candidates from outside the company and 58 for IndianOil candidates and means that Vaidya is ineligible to apply. Now, the committee will recommend that the ACC modify the eligibility criteria.
Also discussed at the meeting were the names of candidates eligible to apply, among them Engineers India chairperson Vartika Shukla, who retires in February (2026), GAIL chairman Sandeep Gupta, who also retires in February (2026), IndianOil director marketing SK Vaduguri, IndianOil director planning and business development Sujoy Choudhury, and former IndianOil director human resources RK Mohapatra. ACC deputy director Vijay Kumar Darak sent oil secretary Pankaj Jain an order on October 7 (2023) asking him to set up a selection committee.
"The ACC has approved the oil ministry proposal to select the IndianOil chairman on an immediate absorption basis (whoever is selected must be ready to join immediately) through a search and selection committee as a one-time measure," wrote the ACC. Vaidya's term ended on August 31 (2023), but he received a one-year extension.