Cairn India announced on Tuesday that its board has approved the appointment of Mayank Ashar as the company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer with effect from November 17.

Ashar has more than 36 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and his previous assignments include leadership roles in British Petroleum, Petro-Canada and Suncor Energy.

“We are delighted to have Mayank Ashar on board to lead the company. Mayank has a strong track record of executing corporate strategy, driving operational efficiency and delivering value to all stakeholders. His appointment comes at a critical phase when Cairn India is focussed on delivering the next level of growth from its world-class Rajasthan and other assets,” said Navin Agarwal, Chairman, Cairn India Ltd.

“Cairn India has built a niche for itself in a short span of time and it is a privilege to lead the organisation. I am looking forward to working closely with the team,” said Ashar.

Meanwhile the company also reported a 32.7 per cent drop in its consolidated net profit for the second quarter of fiscal 2014-15 at ₹ 2,277.88 crore. The net profit in the same quarter last year was ₹ 3,385.08 crore.

The company’s consolidated net revenues for the second quarter was 14.3 per cent lower at ₹ 3,982.05 crore as against ₹ 4,649.91 crore in the same quarter last year.

The company said in a statement that the drop in net profit and net revenue was on account of planned maintenance shutdown, realisations impacted by the softer global crude prices and higher profit petroleum tranche in Rajasthan.

Giving the outlook for the company, Sudhir Mathur, Chief Financial Officer and Interim CEO of Cairn India said, “In light of the renewed optimism under the new government, we view the recent regulatory announcements as a welcome step for the Oil & Gas industry. Considering that each of our development projects is on track, we are confident of achieving our targeted volume growth of 7 to 10 per cent over the next 3 years.”

“The continued success of our exploration and appraisal campaign will help achieve targeted 150% reserve replacement ratio in the same period,” Mathur added.

On Tuesday, Cairn India’s shares closed 0.63 per cent lower on the BSE at ₹ 278.25.

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