Sanjiv Singh has been appointed chairman of Indian Oil Corporation (IndianOil) effective 1 June 2017. Prior to his appointment, Singh was director (Refineries) on the IndianOil Board. Concurrently, he will serve as chairman of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (CPCL) and Hindustan Urvarak and Rasayan Ltd (HURL), a joint venture company recently established to revive the company’s fertiliser plants in Gorakhpur, Sindri and Barauni.

A chemical engineer from IIT-Roorkee, with a Diploma in Management, Singh joined IndianOil in 1981, spearheading refinery operations as well as mega greenfield and brownfield projects in refining and petrochemicals. With extensive experience in the refining sector, Singh played a key role in the setting up, commissioning and stabilisation of two of IndianOil’s largest greenfield refineries in Panipat and Paradip. The commissioning of IndianOil’s 11th refinery in Paradip in early 2016, is his benchmark contribution to the Indian oil refining sector. Singh has also steered the successful implementation of the petrochemical projects of paraxylene/PTA and naphtha cracker in Panipat.

As director (Refineries) of IndianOil, Singh endeavoured to improve the operation of IndianOil’s 11 refineries by revamping, debottlenecking and modernisation of process units, together with yield and profitability improvement projects, besides undertaking low-cost capacity expansions. He strongly supported commercialisation of indigenous technologies and has led many such “firsts” in IndianOil refineries like Octamax for the production of high-octane fuel; indJet for the production of aviation fuel; inDSK for the reduction of sulphur in kerosene; and indeSelect for gasoline desulphurisation, among several others.

Singh has been a driving force in conceptualising India’s mammoth 60 million tonnes per annum refinery being set up on the West coast of India, which will transform the oil refining landscape in India. Playing a leadership role in the energy sector, he is partnering India’s vision to be a refining hub in South Asia.

A champion of clean and green fuels, Singh ensured the on schedule rollout of BSIV-compliant fuels across the country in April 2017 and has now set a frenetic pace for IndianOil refineries to meet the tough deadline of introducing BSVI-compliant fuels in the country by April 2020.

Singh shares his rich experience and expertise in the field as a member of several industry associations and government bodies. Academically inclined, Singh is widely travelled in India and abroad and has presented papers in several important national and international forums.

IndianOil is India’s largest commercial enterprise and a top-ranked Indian corporation in Fortune’s Global 500 listing of the world’s largest corporations. The IndianOil group owns and operates 11 of India’s 23 refineries, with a combined refining capacity of 80.7 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA), representing 35% of the country’s refining capacity.