New Delhi, Apr 9: Seasoned energy sector executive Sanjay Khanna has been named Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, India's second-largest state-owned fuel retailer. Khanna was Director (Refineries) at BPCL prior to his elevation.
He was holding additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director after G Krishnakumar superannuated as CMD of BPCL on April 30, 2025.
Appointment confirmed by ministry
In a stock exchange filing, BPCL said Khanna has taken charge after his appointment was conveyed by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. “In terms of the letter dated April 9, 2026, from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoP&NG), the appointment will be with effect from April 9, 2026 till the date of his superannuation, i.e., till 31.05.2029 or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” it said.
Professional background and experience
A chemical engineering graduate from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Khanna also holds a postgraduate degree in finance management from the University of Mumbai.
Throughout his career at BPCL, he has held key leadership positions, including heading the company's Kochi and Mumbai refineries and serving as Director (Refineries) since February 22, 2022.
Selection process and committee role
Khanna was one of the candidates that the government headhunter, Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB), interviewed on February 1, 2025, to find a replacement for Krishnakumar.
After the interviews, PESB did not recommend any candidate for the post and asked the administrative ministry to “choose an appropriate course of further action for selection, including the Search-cum-Selection Committee (SCSC) or as deemed appropriate with the approval of the competent authority.”
More than six months later, MoPNG invited applications for the post of Chairman and Managing Director of BPCL, saying the “selection shall be through a search-cum-selection committee”.
The panel, which was constituted by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on March 24, 2025, was headed by PESB Chairperson Mallika Srinivasan.
Then Oil Secretary Pankaj Jain was the other member of the committee, while former Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) M K Surana was drawn on the panel as an outside expert of eminence, according to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.
Key contributions and future plans
The committee selected Khanna for the job. “As Executive Director of Kochi Refinery, he (Khanna) played a key role in commissioning the first ‘Niche Petrochemical’ project of BPCL, Propylene Derivative Petrochemical Project (PDPP), despite the challenges posed by the pandemic,” BPCL said in the filing.
“Under his able leadership, BPCL has ideated to invest Rs 75,000 crore in the coming five years, including the single-largest investment of BPCL—the Rs 50,000 crore Bina Petrochemical and Refinery Expansion Project (BPREP) at Bina, Madhya Pradesh.”
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Board roles and disclosures
Khanna also serves as a Director on the boards of Bharat PetroResources Ltd, Petronet LNG Ltd, and Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. Additionally, he is also the current Chairperson of the ‘Technical Committee for Petroleum Refineries’ under MoP&NG.
Stating that Khanna is not debarred from holding the office of director by virtue of any SEBI order or order of any other authority, BPCL said that he holds 15,050 shares of the company.
(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
