After five months, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has finally appointed a director on HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.) The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on June 22, conveyed its consent for Pankaj Kumar as director, according to the regulatory filings by HPCL.
For the five months, ONGC had no representatives on the board of HPCL ─ a company in which it owns a 51.11% stake since January 2018.
“Pankaj Kumar has been appointed as Government Director on the Board, effective from June 22”, HPCL said in the filing.
Prior to his appointment, Alka Mittal was the nominee director of the company and was appointed to the HPCL board in April 2021.
In January this year, Mittal was given additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC. According to the company’s past practice, the chairman could only sit on the board of the subsidiary as a chairman, not as a director, due to which Mittal had to resign from the board of HPCL and Kumar was nominated.
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In a filing on January 2, 2022, HPCL said, “Alka has tendered resignation from the position of Government Nominee Director (Representatives of ONGC) of the company effective from January 5, 2022”.
The official said, “Mittal also sent her resignation from the HPCL board to the Union Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas”, the ministry that monitors and regulates ONGC and HPCL.