Know more about Shashi Shankar, new ONGC CMD-designate

Shashi Shanker, next ONGC CMD 

SHASHI Shanker, who was on September 25 appointed as the chairman and managing director (CMD) of India’s biggest oil and gas producer ONGC has been serving the oil major for quite some time.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment to the post of CMD, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), till the date of his...
superannuation, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.
Shankar, at present director (technical and field services), ONGC, will take over the charge as CMD from October 1. He will replace Dinesh K Sarraf, who retires on September 30, upon attaining superannuation age.
Shankar, 56, will have a nearly four-year term till March 2021.
ACC, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, appointed Shanker as Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC "till the date of his superannuation or until further orders, whichever is earlier.”
Anti-corruption watchdog CVC cleared his appointment last month. More than a month later, the ministry cited exploration challenges facing ONGC in raising crude oil and natural gas output in seeking a year's validity for Shanker's appointment.
Sarraf, who took over as the Chairman of ONGC on March 1, 2014, has been shortlisted to head the downstream oil regulator, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).
Established norms and PESB rules state that a board-level functionary would be considered for appointment for a period of five years or until the age of superannuation, whichever is earlier, with a provision that he/she would be assessed by the administrative ministry after the first year of his employment.
His performance would now be reviewed after one year and the ministry would seek confirmation for the balance tenure.
The Oil Ministry had in February 2015 suspended Shanker following allegations of irregularities in a tender for buying 21 Blowout Preventers (BOP). Shanker was the youngest director (51) on the board of the nation's most profitable oil company when he was appointed Director (Technology and Field Services) on December 1, 2012.
ONGC board has seven full-time directors including the Chairman and Managing Director. While Sarraf retires on September 30, Director (Finance) A K Srinivasan would retire on October 31. Director (Offshore) T K Sengupta retires on December 31, followed by Director (Onshore) V P Mahawar in February 2018 and Director (HR) D D Misra in July next year.
Shanker served ONGC as director of Technology & Field Services since December 1, 2012. He earlier served as the Head-Deep Water for MDT of Mumbai Region and was responsible for spearheading the deep/ultra-deep water drilling campaign of the PSU.
He has wide exposure in diverse E&P activities in onshore and offshore operations and R&D activities. With an impressive professional experience of over three decades with ONGC, Shanker has been at the helm of drilling operations in various challenging assignments. He also served as a Director of ONGC Tripura Power Company Limited.
A performer par excellence, he has received various awards notably "Young Engineer Award" and "Drilling Engineer of the Year 1998". A B Tech degree holder in Petroleum Engineering from Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad and MBA with specialization in Financial Management from IGNOU, he undertook Management Development programme from IIM, Lucknow and Leadership Development Programme at ISB, Hyderabad.