IOC's Behuria denied extension as Chairman

Sarthak Behuria has been denied an extension as chairman of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the third Navratna oil PSU head since 2006 to be shown the door before achieving superannuation age.

No reasons have been given for denying Behuria an extension till he achieved superannuation age of 60 years in March 2012.

Official sources said the Petroleum Ministry on February 25 issued orders appointing B M Bansal, the seniormost director on IOC board, as acting chairman for three months.

Both Behuria and Bansal's five-year term ended today but only the later could earn an extension till his superannuation in January next year.

Behuria is the third head of a Navratana or crown jewel oil PSU, to be denied an extension. The Oil ministry had in 2006 declined Subir Raha an extension as the Chairman and Managing Director of Oil and Natural Gas Corp and a year later GAIL's Prashanto Banerjee went the same way.

Behuria's performance as hairman of IOC had been rated as "outstanding" by outgoing Oil Secretary R S Pandey and there were no known corruption charges against him, sources said, adding it was not immediately clear why he was being denied an extension.

Behuria took over as chairman of IOC and its group companies on March 1, 2005. Steering the company from a turnover of $34.5 billion in 2004-05 to become the first Indian firm to breach $50 billion mark in 2006-07, the turnover of the company rose to $62 billion (Rs 2,85,337 crore) in 2008-09.

The group has remained a market leader in domestic refining and fuel marketing with about 50 per cent market share.

IOC's world ranking in the Fortune Global list at 105 in 2009 is 65 places higher than its 170 rank in 2005.

Sources said Behuria has accepted the offer of Petronet LNG (PLL), a joint venture firm of state owned oil firm, for the job of Adviser.

The board of PLL, whose chairman is Petroleum Secretary S Sundareshan, created the new post days before Behuria's extension came up.

Behuria may eventually succeed P Dasgupta who is rumoured to be putting in his papers on health grounds before his term as CEO and managing director and comes to an end in August.

Sources said indications of Behuria not getting an extension first emerged when Public Enterprise Selection Board (PSEB) - the government's premier body that selects board-level executives of the PSUs - could not interview him in the absence of oil ministry completing paper work.