“I missed my daughter’s first birthday… Now, I want to spend more time with her, as she steps into her professional journey (in the field of medicine),” P Elango, interim CEO & Whole-time Director, Cairn India, told his colleagues on Friday morning, as he announced his decision to quit the company.

But this may not be the real reason why the soft-spoken people’s man — as he is referred to — quit.

An English literature student, who loves the poems of William Wordsworth, Elango has been the interim CEO of Cairn India since 2012.

The indecisiveness on confirming him as the full-fledged CEO could be a reason for his exit.

While most employees were taken by surprise, those who had an inkling of his probable exit were hoping that it would not happen, employees told Business Line .

In fact, most said, they do not understand what the management was thinking while keeping Elango as the ‘interim CEO’ since August 2012. The Board of Cairn accepted Elango’s resignation a couple of days back.

Though the 51-year-old Cairn veteran, who had played a key role in the growth of the company, did not disclose his next move, industry observers say they will not be surprised if he continues to grow in this “niche sector”.

In a career spanning over 26 years in the upstream oil and gas sector, he has been in several leadership roles in different areas of the business.

In fact, to all young enthusiasts wanting to get into the sector, Elango would say, “if I being an English literature student can succeed in this sector, anyone can.”

Elango, in his first media interaction as the interim CEO, which he had with Business Line in August 2012, said externally stepping into the shoes of Rahul Dhir – who had become the face of Cairn – may seem big, but internally this may not be so.

He was clear that Cairn India will continue to grow through ‘drill bit’ – a term colloquially used for exploration and production companies.

Success story Before this current position, Elango was the Director- Strategy and Business Services of Cairn responsible for spearheading the strategic planning for the company as well as leading and integrating the business service functions to support the core activities of exploration, development and production.

A former ONGCian, he joined Cairn in January 1996. To his credit was the commercial success of the prolific Rajasthan asset of Cairn, Ravva fields in the East Coast, and the Cambay asset in the West.

For Cairn, this is the second exit in less than two years.

Elango’s resignation comes just when Cairn has delivered 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent (oil plus gas) a day from the Rajasthan block.

Something similar had happened in August 2012.

Another top exit Just as Cairn India was settling down to a new management (Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Group), MD and CEO Rahul Dhir had decided to step down to pursue ‘entrepreneurial interests’.

The announcement had not come as a surprise to those tracking the industry closely, as speculation on Dhir’s exit were high since Agarwal-led Vedanta Group became the majority stakeholder.

In a statement, Cairn India had then said the search for his successor is on and an announcement could be expected soon.

In the intervening period, the board had appointed Elango, Director, Strategy and Business Services, and a member of Cairn India’s Executive Committee, as the Interim CEO.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW