Govt reconfirms appointment of Sarraf as ONGC head

According to sources, a letter reconfirming Sarraf's appointment was issued on Monday

The government has confirmed the appointment of Dinesh K Sarraf as the chairman and managing director of India's biggest oil and gas producer, ONGC.

Sarraf, 57, was selected to head Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) by the previous UPA government in August 2013. He took charge of the post on March 1, 2014.

As per rules, all appointments to the boards of public sector companies have to be reconfirmed after one year.

A letter reconfirming Sarraf's appointment was issued on Monday, sources privy to the development said.

ONGC has been under intense scrutiny since the new government took over, with Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan monitoring its performance on a monthly basis.

Directors were made individually responsible, a move that yielded results when ONGC in the fiscal ending March 31 reversed a seven-year decline in its crude oil production.

ONGC produced 22.263 million tonnes of crude oil during April 2014 to March 31, 2015, up from 22.247 million tonnes in the previous fiscal.

Prior to taking over as Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC, he was managing director of its overseas arm, ONGC Videsh. He replaced Sudhir Vasudeva, who superannuated on February 28 last year.

Sources said Sarraf will be at the helms of ONGC till September 30, 2017 when he attains superannuation age of 60 years.

Sarraf was director (finance), ONGC, before moving to OVL in September 2011. He transformed OVL into an aggressive overseas firm, stitching four deals worth over USD 11 billion in one year.

He holds a Master's degree in Commerce from the University of Delhi. He is also a member of the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.