As ACC appoints Arvindar Singh Sahney as IOC Chairman, Director (P&BD) spot opens up again

New Delhi: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas’ proposal to appoint Arvindar Singh Sahney as the Chairman of India’s largest oil retailer. Sahney is currently an Executive Director (ED) in Indian Oil and heads the company’s petrochemical division. “I am directed to state that the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of this Ministry for appointment of Shri Arvindar Singh Sahney, Executive Director, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) to the post of Chairman, IOCL, in the scale and pay of Rs 2,00,000-3,70,000/- (IDA), for a period of five years with effect from the date of his assumption of charge of the post, or till the date of his superannuation, or until further orders, whichever is the earliest,” said an official order dated November 13.

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The post of Chairman at Indian Oil fell vacant after SM Vaidya superannuated from the post on August 31. On September 1, Satish Kumar Vaduguri, Director (Marketing), Indian Oil, was given additional charge of the Chairman’s position and holds it currently.

PESB will have to pick another Director (P&BD) for IOCL

In August, Sahney was selected by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) for the post of Indian Oil’s Director (Planning and Business Development). However, now that Sahney has been appointed as Indian Oil’s CMD, the position falls vacant and the PESB will have to pick one of the other shortlisted candidates for the Director (Planning and Business Development) position, PSU Watch learnt from sources.

Arvindar Singh Sahney

Arvindar Singh Sahney is only the second candidate in the history of Indian Oil to be elevated from the position of Executive Director (ED) to Chairman’s position without any experience of serving on the board. B Ashok, who was appointed as IOC Chairman in 2014, was the only other person who was elevated from ED to Chairman at Indian Oil.

Sahney joined IOC in 1993 after a brief stint at Tata Chemicals and has been with the PSU for over three decades now. He is a chemical engineer from Harcourt Butler Technical University, Kanpur. He was appointed ED in February 2022.

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