Odisha Geologist & Utkal Varsity Alumnus Ranjit Rath Picked To Head Oil India

Bhubaneswar: An alumnus of Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Ranjit Rath has been picked to head India’s second-largest state oil and gas producer, Oil India Ltd.

Notably, two directors of Oil India’s board of directors and another executive director were also in the running for the post of chairman and managing director of Oil India, but Rath, 50, who is currently chairman and managing director of Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd (MECL), was selected after interviews of five applicants on March 9, a notification from the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) said.

After approval by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), his name will be forwarded to the Cabinet Appointments Committee (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He will succeed Sushil Chandra Mishra, who is due to retire on June 30.

A Geoscientist, Rath is an alumnus of IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur and Utkal University. Prior to his appointment to MECL, he was the General Manager with Engineers India Ltd, New Delhi, and was posted with Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd.

He has also been conferred with the prestigious National Geosciences Award 2016. He is the co-author of a book called Underground Storage Technologies.

On June 28, 2021, PESB had selected Rath for the post of chairman and managing director of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd(BCCL), a separate notification of the government headhunter said.  However, Samiran Dutta (Director Finance) of BCCL, was appointed to the post in December last year, the PTI reported.