BJP’s Sambit Patra to join ONGC board

The UPA regime, too, had tapped its leaders. Several PSUs, notably a host of banks, came under the scanner for appointing as independent directors their party leaders.

Sambit Patra, NDA government, Modi government, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, BJP National Spokesperson Sambit Patra, Natural Gas, Sambit Patra ONGC, ONGC, business news, indian express

Sebi norms require the board of all firms to have at least 50 per cent independent directors.

The NDA government on Friday appointed Bharatiya Janata Party’s National Spokesperson Sambit Patra as a non-official director on the board of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) for three years. This is not the first time the incumbent administration has chosen a party faithful as independent directors for state-owned companies.

“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for appointment of Dr Sambit Patra as Non-official Director on the Board of Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), for a period of three years from the date of notification of his appointment, or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” an official order said.

Patra did not respond to queries sent by e-mail and SMS. A surgeon by discipline, Patra has been appointed on the Board of ONGC at a time when the company is in process of acquiring 51.11 per cent stake in state-owned oil marketing firm HPCL, from the government.

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The Indian Express, in January, had reported that at least 16 BJP leaders were named as independent directors of different PSUs by the Centre. These include Shazia Ilmi for Engineers India Ltd, Asifa Khan for Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Kiran Ghai Sinha for National Aluminium Company Ltd, among others.

The UPA regime, too, had tapped its leaders. Several PSUs, notably a host of banks, came under the scanner for appointing as independent directors their party leaders.

In 2014, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had made amendments to Clause 49 of the listing agreement for all companies, stipulating that a board should have at least 50 per cent of directors as non-executive or independent directors with at least one woman director.

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