ONGC gets its first female head as Alka Mittal gets additional charge of CMD’s post

• ONGC had been functioning without a CMD for 48 hours prior to Mittal's appointment
• The additional charge has been assigned to Mittal because she was next in terms of seniority to Kumar, said sources

New Delhi: State-run Oil & Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) Director (HR) Alka Mittal has been given additional charge of the post of Chairperson and Managing Director (CMD), which makes her the first female to hold the post at the state-run oil behemoth, sources told PSU Watch. The decision has been communicated by the government through a directive issued by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. ONGC, India's largest oil exploration and production company had been functioning without a CMD for 48 hours prior to Mittal's appointment.

ONGC without CMD for 48 hrs

The ONGC CMD post fell vacant after Subhash Kumar superannuated two days ago. Kumar, who had been serving as Director (Finance) of ONGC had been given additional charge of the CMD's post after former full-time ONGC CMD Shashi Shanker's superannuation in February 2021. The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) had conducted interview for ONGC's CMD post in June 2021. However, it had said that it could not find any suitable candidates for the post. Afterwards, the matter was referred to the Petroleum Ministry, which is yet to float a name.

The additional charge has been assigned to Mittal because she was next in terms of seniority to Kumar, said sources.

Dr Alka Mittal

A post-graduate in Economics, MBA (HRM) and Doctorate in Commerce and Business Studies, Dr Mittal joined ONGC as a Graduate Trainee back in 1985. As per her bio on ONGC's official website, she brings with her an extremely rich experience spanning over three decades.

She was appointed as Director (HR) of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited on November 27, 2018. Mittal is the first woman to hold the charge of a full-time Director in ONGC's history.

Prior to joining as Director (HR), Dr Mittal held the post of Chief Skill Development (CSD) of the company. She was also the Head of Corporate Communications of ONGC during 2009.

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