Dharmendra Pradhan rejects PESB choice for IOC post

NEW DELHI: Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan has rejected government headhunter’s choice of the next marketing director of IndianOil Corporation with the aim of finding a more suitable candidate to fill the vital post at India’s largest fuel refiner-retailer from a wider talent pool. The Public Enterprise Selection Board had recommended U V Mannur as the successor to Makrand Nene, who retires as marketing director on December 31.Mannur is an executive director in the company and was selected from among 11 candidates interviewed on May 26.
Following the PESB recommendation, Mannur’s name was cleared by Chief Vigilance Commission and the CBI for securing the oil minister’s approval for forwarding it for final clearance of the Prime Minister’s Office. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet would now have to decide whether PESB would be asked to send its second choice from among the interviewed candidates or call for fresh interviews. The government may be going through a transition at the Centre but that hasn’t deterred Public Enterprises Selection Board from rushing in interviews for selecting marketing head for IOC. tnn