Sudhir Vasudeva becomes new CMD of ONGC

NEW DELHI: The government has appointed ONGC director-offshore Sudhir Vasudeva as chairman & managing director of the state-run energy firm, almost one year after he was short-listed for the top post.

Vasudeva, 57, took-over the office of CMD on Monday, a senior company official said. The company is expected to issue a statement late night.

The Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB), the agency responsible for short-listing top executives in state-run firms, had selected Vasudeva as its first choice on October 19. But the government wasted almost one year time in scrutinizing his credentials after some false complaints were made by anonymous complainants.

Oil ministry’s officials said that based on a clean chit issued by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the government had cleared Vasudeva’s appointment for the top post on Monday evening.

Vasudeva, an exploration expert, has 19 years experience of managing the Mumbai High, ONGC’s largest oil producing fields. He will continue in the office till his retirement which is on January 31, 2014.