Shashi Shanker to take charge as ONGC chairman and MD on October 1

Already a director in ONGC; his elevation comes at a time when the company is set to acquire 51.1% stake in HPCL

Shashi Shanker will take charge as the chairman and managing director of India's largest explorer, Oil and natural gas corporation (ONGC), on October 1. 

Shanker is already a director in ONGC and his elevation comes at a time when the company is set to acquire 51.1 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) in the next two months' time.   

Shanker is an industry veteran with over 30 years of experience in diverse E&P activities. Prior to his appointment as Director (T&FS) in 2012, he has progressed through senior management roles in various work-centres, including the Institute of Drilling Technology at Dehradun, West Bengal Project, Assam Project and Deep Water group at Mumbai.

Shanker will take over the reins from Dinesh K Sarraf, who superannuates from service on September 30. 

Shanker is a petroleum engineer from the Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad. He also holds an MBA degree with specialisation in Finance and has received executive education from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-Lucknow) and Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

Under his leadership, ONGC drilled the deepest deep-water well covering a water depth of 3,174 meters, a world record. He also led the team to one of the finest drilling performances in 2016-17, when ONGC set a new record of drilling over 500 wells. This is the first time in 23 years that ONGC has crossed the 500-well mark.