The organization of the 25^th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of one of India’s most valuable corporation ONGC has secured praise from the attending shareholders. The  AGM was held on 28 September 2018 at the Manekshaw Center, New Delhi.

The AGM was chaired by CMD ONGC Mr. Shashi Shanker and attended to by all the Directors on the ONGC Board - Director (Exploration) Mr. A. K. Dwivedi, Director (Finance) Mr. Subhash Kumar, Director (Offshore) Mr. Rajesh Kakkar, Director (Onshore) Mr. S. K. Moitra,and  ONGC’s Independent Directors Mr. Ajai Malhotra, Mr. Shireesh B. Kedare, Mr. K. M.  Padmanabhan, Mr. Deepak Sethi, Mr. Vivek Mallya, Mr. Sumit Bose, Mr. Santrupt B. Misra, Ms. Ganga Murthy and Dr. Sambit Patra. Government Nominee Director Mr. Amar Nath also attended the AGM.

ONGC Directors on dais during the 25^th AGM

CMD ONGC Shashi Shanker addressing audience at AGM

In his AGM statement, CMD Mr. Shashi Shanker informed that ONGC has witnessed positive developments on both financial and operational fronts, despite facing challenges in the Global Energy Industry. He highlighted some of the milestones of ONGC for the fiscal year 2017-18: 12 new hydrocarbon discoveries, record revenue growth of 9.1% and winning several awards at national and international platforms.

He added that despite the emergence of renewables and a sharp dip in hydrocarbon discoveries over the last decade; ONGC continues to focus on E&P as their primary avenue of business growth and further develop new E&P assets.

Talking further about the company’s financial performance, Mr. Shashi Shanker proudly declared that the Company’s Profit-After-Tax (PAT) jumped to Rs.19,945 Crore from Rs.17,900 Crore in FY ’18.

Click here to read the complete speech delivered by ONGC CMD Mr. Shashi Shanker at AGM 2018.

Later, CMD and the Board members earnestly listened and answered the queries raised by the shareholders. Shareholders praised the organization of the AGM and appreciated the event management. Some of the shareholders raised questions with regard to ONGC’s exploration efforts, particularly in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, IPO of ONGC Videsh Ltd. and ONGC share price stagnation. Mr. Shashi Shanker replied to each one keenly with inputs from other Board members.

Shareholders raising questions at 25^th AGM

While responding to questions about putting on production new Basins located in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, CMD said that ONGC will soon move the West Bengal site to production as markets are available there. However, the Basin in Madhya Pradesh may take some time as the formation there is tight and technical challenges have to be resolved first. He also informed the shareholders that ONGC has invested Rs. 503 crores for CSR in this fiscal and will continue to constructively contribute to the social causes as much as possible. Regardng the ONGC Videsh IPO, Mr. Shanker said that ONGC has received some advice from ‘DIPAM’ (Department of Investment and Public Asset Managment) and analysis is currently on.

Addressing the query regarding the share prices, Director (Finance) Mr. Subhash Kumar replied that issue is getting highest attention of the management and they are committed to deliver the true value of ONGC shares to each shareholder. He added that the issue has been getting government attention too and that they had organized a road show in association with ‘DIPAM’ to comprehend the reason(s) why true value of ONGC shares does not reflect.

Shareholders quite generously praised the ONGC management for exceptional arrangements at the venue and for keenly answering each query that they raised. With such an active participation of shareholders and management, the Q&A session turned out to be quite fruitful.

Independent Director K M Padmanabhan giving vote of thanks

The vote of thanks was delivered by the Independent director Mr. K. M. Padmanabhan, who appreciated the shareholders for their suggestions and feedback. He also thanked all the ONGC employees, their families and the officers of associated associations for their endless support in all the endeavors of the company. After vote of thanks, meeting was declared closed by the CMD.