Mumbai: Sanjiv Singh, former chairman of Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), has joined Reliance Industries as group president and member of the oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business leadership team, senior RIL officials said.
Singh, who superannuated from the services of IOCL on 30 June, will lead and drive the group's manufacturing services which is considered the backbone of RIL's oil-to-chemicals business.
"As a member of the O2C leadership we look forward to his contribution in driving manufacturing excellence and transition towards making Reliance O2C a global leader in energy and materials," Hital R Meswani, executive director, RIL, said in an organisation announcement.
Singh took over as chairman of IOCL in June 2017. A chemical engineer from IIT-Roorkee with a diploma in management, Singh joined the oil marketing company in 1981.
At IOCL, Singh spearheaded refinery operations, playing a key role in the setting up, commissioning and stabilization of two of IOCL's biggest greenfield refineries at Panipat and Paradip.
Singh had also implemented the petrochemical projects of paraxylene/PTA and naphtha cracker with downstream units at Panipat refinery.
Singh's appointment at RIL, however, has raised eyebrows as according to the Department of Public Enterprises guidelines, a public sector official retiring at the rank of chairman or director, is expected to follow a six-month cooling off period before joining any other organisation. Singh has completed only two months of superannuation.
"Directors and chairmen of public sector enterprises need to sign a bond that they will not work with any company that had commercial relationship with their organisation, for a period of one year without the permission of the Government of India. Else, pay six months of the salary as a compensation to the Government which usually is in the range of ₹10-15 lakh," said a senior official from an oil marketing company.
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