Former IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh joins Reliance as Group President

Former Indian Oil Corp (IOC) chairman Sanjiv Singh has joined Reliance Industries Ltd as Group President for billionaire Mukesh Ambani-run firm's oil-to-chemicals business.

A communication by RIL Executive Director Hital R Meswani to the company employees said Singh, who superannuated from India's largest oil firm on June 30, will be a member of the oil-to-chemicals(O2C) business leadership team.

RIL's O2C business consists of the group's twin oil refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat, petrochemical plants, 51 per cent of fuel retail and aviation fuel venture, and bulk wholesale marketing businesses.

It does not include the firm's upstream oil and gas exploration assets that include 66.6 per cent interest in the eastern offshore KG-D6 block.

RIL is in the process of carving out the O2C business into a separate unit, called Reliance O2C Ltd, for a possible sale of a 20 per cent interest to Saudi Aramco for an asking of USD 15 billion.

The firm had earlier this year hired former IOC chairman Sarthak Behuria, 68, as a senior advisor to help shape the firm's fuel retail business.

"Sanjiv will lead and drive the Group manufacturing services (GMS) organisation which is the backbone of our oil-to-chemicals business," Meswani wrote.

The refining and marketing business of RIL is headed by Meswani, and Surinder Sani is the Group President of the Refining Business, according to the company's latest annual report. Par Singh is the head of Manufacturing at RIL. PK Kapil, one of the two non-promoter family directors on the board of RIL, is the Executive Director of the division.

"Sanjiv will be workingclosely with the undersigned and the O2C leadership team to assume responsibility for GMS areas in a phased manner over the next 3-4 months," Meswani wrote.

A chemical engineer from IIT-Roorkee with a diploma in management, Singh was the chairman of IOC for three years. Prior to that he was Director Refineries at the company and oversaw the construction of India's newest oil refinery at Paradip in Odisha.

"During his tenure at IOC, Sanjiv was instrumental in setting up and commissioning of two of IOC's biggest greenfield refineries at Panipat (in Haryana) and Paradip," Meswani wrote. "Sanjiv served as the Executive Director of Paradip Refinery Project and was head of IOC's Panipat Refinery.