More than a year after it sacked three UPA-appointed independent directors on ONGC board, the government has appointed ex-IFS Ajai Malhotra and two others as non-official part-time directors on the board of the nation´s biggest oil and gas producer.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in a regulatory filing said that Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has appointed ex-IFS Ajai Malhotra, IIT-Bombay Professor Shireesh Balwant Kedare and Chennai-based chartered accountant KM Padmanabhan as independent directors on the company board.
The appointment will be ¨for a period of three years from the date of the notification i.e. November 20, 2015 or until further orders, whichever is earlier,¨ ONGC said. In September last year, former Power Secretary P Umashankar, chartered accountant S Ravi and former BPCL Chairman and Managing Director RK Singh ceased to be independent directors on the board after the company did not move a resolution before the shareholders seeking confirmation of their appointment.
After the appointment of three, the strength of independent directors on ONGC board has risen to four. The board already has chartered accountant K Narasimha Murthy as independent director.
But the strength is short of nine independent directors needed to fulfil the listing requirement. ONGC board has seven functional directors, including the chairman and managing director and two government nominee directors.
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