Newsmaker: R.S. Sharma

ONGC’s Sharma: New stint.

For R.S. Sharma, 56, who recently took over as CMD of ONGC, the appointment was as challenging as finding oil. In August last year, his candidature was turned down by the Prime Minister's Office after it had been cleared by a routine selection process on the grounds that the selection process needed to be "widened" to include private sector participants. The best they could manage was Najeeb Jung, a former bureaucrat, currently associated with a research outfit, Observer Research Foundation. But the selection committee placed him at #2; the pole position still went to Sharma when the list was sent to the PMO. Officials privy to the selection process say that this match was a cliffhanger. This fuelled speculation that search for talent was not the sole driver for a repeat of the selection process.

For Sharma, a cost accountant, patience and tenacity paid off in the end. Also, unlike his predecessor Subir Raha, whose flamboyance won him as many enemies as friends, Sharma is a conservative, low-profile worker. These are considered great qualities in the public sector and these, in no small measure, helped him win the bureaucracy's vote.

Though now firmly in the saddle, the road ahead is anything but smooth. For the most part, ONGC is living off old finds-it has a dismal record in striking oil and gas. This, despite the fact that the prospects of finding oil and gas in the country have vastly improved over the last few years. Reviving ONGC's sagging fortunes will not be easy, especially since the company has been losing personnel to the private sector.

Can he make difference? Time alone will tell..