Dr Alka Mittal Takes Charge As Chairman & MD Of ONGC, First Woman To Head The Energy Major

Jan 03,2022

After having no Managing Director and Chairman for more than 48 hours, India's most valued public sector firm Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Monday appointed Dr. Alka Mittal to the posts, making her the first woman hold charge of a full-time Director in ONGC’s history.

Mittal has been working with ONGC as Director (Human Resources) since November 2018. 

The posts of Managing Director and Chairman of ONGC felt vacant after incumbent Subhash Kumar superannuated and the government did not immediately name his replacement.

Kumar, who was director-finance of ONGC and has been holding the additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director since April last year. He superannuated on December 31, 2021.

Who Is Dr Alka Mittal?

A post-graduate in Economics, MBA (HRM) and Doctorate in Commerce and Business Studies, Dr Mittal joined ONGC as a Graduate Trainee back in 1985. As per her bio on ONGC's official website, she brings with her an extremely rich experience spanning over three decades.

She was appointed as Director (HR) of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited on November 27, 2018. Mittal is the first woman to hold the charge of a full-time Director in ONGC’s history.

Prior to joining as Director (HR), Dr Mittal held the post of Chief Skill Development (CSD) of the company. She was also the Head of Corporate Communications of ONGC during 2009.

ONGC's Director Appointment Process

Government of India usually appoints a replacement of a director or chairman on any public sector board at least a couple of months before his/her retirement. However, the same practice was not followed in the case of ONGC.

The administrative ministry head Hardeep Puri in the case of ONGC has the authority to give an ad-hoc charge for three months. But this did not happen in case of ONGC for days.

ONGC even interviewed candidates to select a replacement for Shanker but did not find anyone suitable from nine candidates, news agency PTI reported.