GAIL Chairman Sandeep Gupta Emerges as Wildcard for IOC

12 Aug 2024 CW Team

On Sunday, nearly a dozen candidates appeared before a search-cum-selection panel tasked with appointing the new chairman of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country's largest oil firm, according to sources. Although 10 out of approximately 60 applicants were selected for interviews, GAIL chairman and managing director Sandeep Gupta was considered an unusual candidate.

Gupta had not applied for the position but was nonetheless called for the interview, as revealed by three sources familiar with the process.

One of these sources noted that while 10 candidates who had applied were invited for interviews, Gupta was the 11th individual to be interviewed.

Gupta, who is 58 years old, previously served as the director of finance at IOC before becoming the CMD of gas utility GAIL in October 2022.

The candidates interviewed on Sunday included two directors from the IOC board: Satish Kumar Vaduguri, Director-Marketing, and Arvind Kumar, Director-Refineries. Additionally, five executive directors from the company were also interviewed.

Sources added that Sukhmal Kumar Jain, director of marketing at Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), and S Khanna, the director of refineries at BPCL, were among those interviewed. Amit Garg, the director of marketing at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), also participated.

The panel is searching for a replacement for Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, whose one-year extension beyond his retirement age of 60 will conclude on August 31. In June, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had requested applications from engineers, chartered accountants, and cost accountants with postgraduate management degrees from prominent institutions and at least five years of experience in leadership roles for the top position at IOC.

Infrastructure Transport

01 Jun 2026

MMRDA advances 250 m on Orange Gate–Marine Drive tunnel

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has completed 250 m of underground tunnelling for the Orange Gate–Marine Drive Urban Road Tunnel using India’s largest slurry shield tunnel boring machine (TBM) deployed for an urban road project.The project involves twin tunnels extending over 7 km beneath critical transport corridors, including Central Railway, Western Railway and Metro Line 3. The work requires high-precision engineering to navigate densely developed urban infrastructure.Once completed, the tunnel is expected to reduce travel time between Orange Gate and Marin..

Hindustan Zinc Pays Rs 188.46 Billion in FY26

Hindustan Zinc contributed Rs 188.46 billion to the public exchequer in FY 2025-26, according to its 9th Tax Transparency Report. The contribution, equivalent to 46 per cent of the company’s revenue, included direct and indirect taxes, government royalties, dividends to the Government of India, withholding taxes and other statutory levies.The company’s five-year cumulative contribution to the exchequer stood at Rs 915.72 billion. In FY26, Hindustan Zinc reported revenue of Rs 408.44 billion, EBITDA of Rs 221.62 billion and profit after tax of Rs 138.32 billion. It also achieved its highest..

World of Concrete India 2026 Opens in Mumbai

Informa Markets in India will host the 12th edition of World of Concrete India 2026 from 3–5 June 2026 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai. The specialised B2B exhibition will bring together manufacturers, suppliers, contractors, developers, architects, consultants, infrastructure companies, project leaders and government stakeholders.The event is expected to feature over 350 brands and more than 18,000 trade professionals. It will cover concrete and cement, dry mortar, precast technologies, formwork, construction chemicals, industrial and commercial flooring, scaffolding, safety solutio..