Indian Oil refining leadership plans as it tests new waters; refiner moves to build a larger pool of executives for future senior roles

Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest oil refiner and retailer, is revamping its leadership and succession framework to build a larger pool of executives for future senior roles, people familiar with the development said.

The move coincides with the oil ministry's plans for a major restructuring of IOC's board that will eliminate three director-level positions-director (pipelines), director (research and development) and director (business development).

The changes come as IOC expands beyond its traditional refining and fuel marketing businesses into data centres, nuclear power generation, shipping, critical mineral mining and battery manufacturing, among other sectors, the people quoted earlier said.


"IOC's focus is to have structured frameworks in place where it can look at talent and groom them for senior positions in a structured fashion," said an executive aware of the development.

IOC has introduced a new programme as part of its learning and development process to identify high-potential executives at levels below the board and earmark them for future senior leadership roles, with structured leadership inputs provided over an extended period.

IOC did not reply to an emailed query until press time.

"The company is becoming more diversified, bigger and bigger with each passing day. The need for more diverse leadership is getting more and more," a senior company executive said.

In April 2025, IOC launched Project Sprint, a three-year company-wide programme aimed at improving profitability, productivity and capital efficiency. These initiatives are part of IOC's strategy to reach $1 trillion in revenue and achieve net-zero operational emissions by 2047.

Recruitment overhaul

Alongside the succession planning exercise, IOC has also changed its recruitment process for entry-level technical talent, moving away from the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) and returning to a company-conducted examination.

The move was prompted by concerns that the common GATE-based recruitment process used by several public sector enterprises was resulting in candidates receiving multiple job offers. This had contributed to higher attrition among new recruits as candidates moved between companies after joining.

"People were holding multiple offers at the same point of time," the company executive said, adding that IOC wanted an examination that assessed both aptitude and academic knowledge.

By returning to its own examination, IOC expects to widen the applicant pool and improve geographical representation. The executive said the first recruitment cycle under the new system had also resulted in a significant improvement in early-stage attrition.