The race for the top job at Oil And Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has narrowed to seven candidates, with Oil India Chairman and Managing Director Ranjit Rath among those shortlisted for the next round of interviews, PTI reported, citing people familiar with the selection process.

The seven candidates are likely to appear before a search-cum-selection committee this week. According to PTI, 18 applicants were screened on August 18 before the field was narrowed to seven.

Rath, 54, is seen as one of the leading contenders for the position, the report said. He has headed Oil India, the country’s second-largest state-owned oil and gas explorer, since August 2022 and is making his second attempt for the ONGC top job.

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He was also shortlisted last year, when the government eventually decided to extend incumbent chairman Arun Kumar Singh’s tenure by another year.

Who else is in the race?

According to PTI, the shortlist also includes ONGC Videsh Managing Director Rajarshi Gupta, ONGC Director for Technology and Field Services Vikram Saxena and Director for Strategy and Corporate Affairs Satyam Kumar.

ONGC Videsh Director for Operations Dulal Halder, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Director (Finance) Devendra Kumar and Indian Oil Corporation Director (Marketing) SP Shrivastava are the other shortlisted candidates.

The selection will be made by a three-member search-cum-selection committee comprising the chairperson of the Public Enterprises Selection Board, the petroleum secretary and a former Indian Oil chairman as an outside expert, PTI reported.

Singh’s extended tenure ends in December

Singh has headed ONGC since December 2022. His appointment followed a period in which the company remained without a full-time chairman between April 2021 and December 2022 and was led by interim chiefs.

A former chairman and managing director of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Singh was selected through a search-cum-selection process in 2022 after retiring from BPCL.

ONGC had subsequently informed the stock exchanges that the government approved Singh’s re-employment as chairman and CEO for one year from December 7, 2025, or until a regular incumbent joins the post, whichever is earlier.

The next chairman will take charge at a time when ONGC is looking to increase domestic oil and gas production, step up exploration and expand its presence across petrochemicals, overseas assets and newer energy businesses.