OREANDA-NEWS. Mr. B Ashok has taken over the reins of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. as its Chairman effective from July 16, 2014.

Prior to his appointment as Chairman IndianOil, Mr. B Ashok was Executive Director (Retail Sales) and Executive Director in the Corporate Office at New Delhi. Mr. Ashok has a wide experience in various roles of the Marketing Division and has also been a harbinger of the Business Development activities at its Corporate Headquarters. Having global exposure, he also has headed the overseas business of IndianOil in South-East Asia based at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and recently on Board of Lanka IOC.

As head of Retail sales, Mr. Ashok transformed the business through several strategic interventions and technological initiatives. Some of these include the 'Total Look and Feel' and 'Highway networking' strategies, solar operated retail outlets and technological initiatives such as mobile applications mPower, XSparsh and XSnehash for officers, dealers and customers.

During his earlier assignments in the Business Development group of IndianOil, Mr. B Ashok was instrumental in laying the first footprints in overseas business, LNG and Petrochemicals. Recently while serving as a Board Member in Lanka IOC, he was instrumental in its turnaround as a highly profitable venture and declaring a maiden dividend to the shareholders. He was also a strong contributor in Training & Development and Corporate Communications activities with several accomplishments to his credit besides experience in Lubes and Technical Services.

A mechanical engineer from College of Engineering, Guindy, Madras University with a Post-Graduate Management qualification from the prestigious National Management Programme of Management Development Institute, Mr. Ashok has over 33 years of experience in the Oil and Gas Industry.

Mr. Ashok has been participating in numerous national and international fora. His foresightedness, strategic thinking and clear communication enabled him to steer various crucial projects in IndianOil. These initiatives have helped the users and the organization to improve productivity and profitability.

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. is India's largest company by sales with a turnover of Rs. 4,73,210 crore and profit of Rs. 7,019 crore for the year 2013-14. IndianOil is the highest ranked Indian company in the latest Fortune 'Global 500' listing, ranked at the 96th position. Its business straddles across the entire hydrocarbon value chain - from refining, pipeline transportation and marketing of petroleum products to exploration & production of crude oil & gas, marketing of natural gas, petrochemicals and renewable energy.