10 people interviewed for Indian Oil Corporation, GAIL chief Sandeep Gupta got a 'wild card' entry

About a dozen candidates appeared for interviews before the search and selection committee for the appointment of the new head of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). Out of about sixty candidates who applied, 10 were called for an interview. GAIL Managing Director Sandeep Gupta is considered a wild card (who is independently selected by the committee) entry. Sources gave this information on Sunday.

Three sources aware of the matter said that Gupta had not applied. But he was called for an interview. They had invited ten candidates who applied. Gupta was the 11th person who was interviewed. Gupta was the Director (Finance) at IOC before being appointed as the CMD of GAIL in October 2022.

Two directors of the IOC board of directors included Satish Kumar Vadugudi, Marketing Director, and Arvind Kumar, Refinery Director. Five executive directors of the company were also present. According to sources, the Director (Marketing) of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) Sukhmal Kumar Jain, and the company's Director (Refinery) S. Khanna were also present during the meeting.

The committee is scouting for a new chief to replace Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, whose one-year extension is set to end on August 31. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had in June invited applications from engineers, chartered accountants and cost accountants who have a postgraduate management degree from leading institutions and have a minimum of five years of experience in a leadership role for the top post at IOC.

Vaidya, who took over as the chairman of the country's largest oil company on July 1, 2020, was due to retire on August 31 last year. But he was given an extension of one year.