A refiner to core is 54-year-old A S Sahney, the recently appointed Chairman of India’s biggest public sector oil refiner, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.

Sahney is one of those who has made it to the top ranks directly from the position of Executive Director. He was Executive Director (Business Development - Petrochemicals) prior to making it as a chairman.

In fact, it was in August this year that he was selected to become Director for Business Development, but before the formalities could be compleed, he has made it to position of Chairman. Such a precedent of climbing up the ranks in IndianOil has happened earlier too, with B Ashok who become Chairman from ED position.

Sahney’s order says for a period of five years with effect from the date of his assumption of charge of the post, or till the date of his superannuation, or until further order, whichever is the earliest.

Belonging to Lucknow, Sahney wears the nazakat associated with the place up on his sleeves and is approachable to his IndianOil team. Not very talkative and believing in delivering, Sahney’s way of unwinding is reading a book or music.

This Chemical Engineer from HBTI, Kanpur, has over three decades of expertise in the refinery and petrochemical sector. Of the nine refineries of IndianOil, Sahney has worked in various capacities in five.

Sahney also chairs Terra Clean Limited, a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of IndianOil focused on sustainable solutions. Under his sleeve is also the position of Director at IndOil Montney Ltd, Canada.

Given that petrochemical is what the world is looking at, to his advantage will be his experience in commissioning and optimising key refinery units, including the 15 MMTPA Paradip Refinery, which has significantly bolstered India’s refining capacity and energy security. In fact, he has also spearheaded IndianOil’s Petrochemical vertical.

His team members describe him as a sorted professional, who has his sight set on the bigger picture. In other words, he does not do micromanagement. He is said to have a sharp business sense and good grasp of the business.

According to IndianOil, “A firm believer in people-centric leadership, Sahney has championed Innovation and Digital transformation as drivers of growth and sustainability.”

What will be put to further test now is his strategic vision and operational excellence for which he is known as India aims to achieve a refining capacity of 450 MMTPA by 2030, up from around 250 MMTPA currently. In addition to commission new refineries, Indian companies are also increasing the capacity of existing ones. Indian policy makers have been often quoted as saying “Indian refineries will work as a regional hub in terms of providing processed petroleum products to other countries.”

IndianOil, which has the largest refining capacity in the country, is expanding the capacity of its Panipat refinery from 15 to 25 MMTPA at a cost of ₹34,627 crore.

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