Arvinder Sahney takes the reins of IOC chairman

NEW DELHI: Arvindar Singh Sahney on Wednesday took over as chairman of the country’s largest oil refiner and fuel retailer, IndianOil, after a protracted selection process.
The 54-year-old chemical engineer from Kanpur’s Harcourt Butler Technical University is the second company insider after B Ashok’s appointment as chairman in 2014 to take the reins of the country’s largest oil refiner and fuel retailer without board-level experience.
As executive director (business development), Sahney played a pivotal role in expanding the company’s petrochemical footprint. His primary challenge would be to regain the ground lost to rivals in the fuel retail market while maintaining the transition momentum and lift employee morale.
Sahney took over from director (marketing) V Satish Kumar, who has been holding fort after Shrikant Madhav Vaidya’s extended tenure ended on August 31.
A three-member search-cum-selection-committee in mid-August had interviewed about a dozen candidates for the top job. Later vigilance profiles of four internal candidates - Arvind Kumar (director, refinery), Sahney, Sanjay Parasher (ED marketing) and Saumitra Srivastava (ED, Marketing and head of Maharashtra region) - were sought.
Sahney has been with the company for over three decades, joining the company in 1993 after a brief stint at Tata Chemicals. He was appointed executive director of the company in February 2022.