OREANDA-NEWS. Essar Oil Ltd., a fully integrated oil and gas company of international scale with a strong presence across the hydrocarbon value chain, today announced the appointment of Mr Virendra Singh Jain as an independent director.

"We welcome Mr Virendra Singh Jain to the Essar Oil family. With an experience of over three decades at the helm of public and private sector enterprises, including two Maharatnas, his wide ranging experience and financial expertise will greatly enrich Essar Oil’s board," said Mr L K Gupta, MD & CEO, Essar Oil.

Mr Jain, a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Institute of Cost Accountant of India, retired from SAIL as the Chairman in 2006, having joined the Maharatna as Director – Finance. Prior to that, he worked with Indian Oil Corporation for 26 years, where he was responsible for international negotiations for procurement of crude and petroleum products and implementation of financial strategies and financial appraisal of projects.

After retirement, he served the Jindal Group as Managing Director and CEO of Jindal Stainless Limited. He also held the post of Member of the Public Enterprises Selection Board for over three years till July 2011. Mr Jain finds place in a coveted list of Best-performing 100 global CEOs spanning a period of 17 years (1995-2011) drawn by Harvard Business Review.

With Mr Jain’s appointment, Essar Oil’s board strength increases to 12, including six independent directors.