Oil and Natural Gas : CMD address on 73rd Republic Day

ओ. एन. जी. सी. के आदरणीय अग्रणीजन,
ONGC व ONGC विदेश के बोर्ड में मेरे सहयोगी,
ONGC एवं ONGC Group of Companies के सभी प्रिय सदस्य, जो आज हमारे साथ webcast द्वारा जुड़े हैं
उपस्थित अधिकारी और जवान,
देवियो और सज्जनों,

वन्दे मातरम !
गौरवशाली राष्ट्र भारत के 73^वें गणतंत्र दिवस के इस शुभ अवसर पर आप सबको हार्दिक शुभकामनाएँ।

इस दिन 1950 में, नव स्वतंत्र भारत ने सर्वोच्च कानून व्यवस्था - भारत का संविधान अपनाया था जो राष्ट्र नियंत्रण और नागरिकों के हितों की रक्षा का सर्वोच्च प्रावधान है ।

Today, let's take this opportunity to remember our inspirational leaders who made it possible, especially, Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the prime architect of our Constitution. On Republic Day, all Indians come together to renew their resolve and commitment to take our great nation towards growth and prosperity amidst unity in diversity. On this occasion, I offer my gratitude to our pioneers and seniors who have shown us the way forward and who continue to guide us. Let us - the Energy Soldiers of India's Energy Maharatna ONGC - also renew our pledge for national energy security and help India become Atma Nirbhar in Urja.

The last year witnessed a lot of challenges and adversities. Covid-19 continued to disrupt lives, and unfortunately, we lost some of our fellow colleagues in the ongoing pandemic. However, the resilience in our DNA showed up yet again, establishing that ONGCians can collectively navigate around any challenge and march on with resilience, commitment & dedication.

Like in the recent past, ONGC has been able to maintain production, despite the vintage of our major oil fields and is contributing over 75% to India's total domestic hydrocarbon production. We are aggressively implementing Redevelopment and Enhanced Oil Recovery schemes to further increase the oil production. We have put Bengal Basin on the production map of India recently and expect to add couple of other basins in the coming years.

As with rest of the world, COVID-19 has significantly impacted our business and our way of working. Taking the challenges in stride, ONGC has effectively adapted to the 'New Normal' by switching to virtual meetings and trainings, reworking SOPs and enforcing COVID-appropriate behavior at all times. ONGC has also taken several initiatives to help employees and our communities combat Covid; some of them are:

• COVID Dashboard on its websites to help employees sail through these testing times.
• Enhancement of reimbursement ceilings for various expenditures related to Covid.
• Health Care Package for purchasing health accessories.
• A number of vaccination camps organized across ONGC work centers for employees and secondary workforce, covering more than One Lakh beneficiaries till date.
• This effort has ensured that we are able to withstand the onslaught of the so called third wave of COVID which is affecting the world with the new variant OMICRON. I am sure we will come out of it soon and stronger..
• Further, ONGC was entrusted by the GOI to procure one lakh oxygen concentrators for the entire country. In this process, ONGC helped the development of domestic manufacturing capability in oxygen concentrators to deal with future pandemic situations. In fact ONGC was instrumental in handholding right from the beginning in giving confidence to local manufacturers who are now even exporting the medical equipment. ONGC has also supported Medical grade oxygen generation plants in 11 government hospitals in 4 states.

Friends, as we look forward to taking our organization to greater heights, let's take a look at our performance and achievements last year:

• ONGC has made three discoveries in the Financial Year 2021-22 so far. One of the discoveries has been put on production in December 2021 itself.
• We encountered many difficult situations during the year but we came out stronger every time. - Unfortunate kidnapping of our colleagues in Assam and cyclone Tauktae shook us and prompted us to relook at our safety and security apparatus once again. A number of steps have been taken but each one of us must always work keeping our own and our colleagues' safety in mind and become safety champions.
• On production performance front, our standalone crude oil production till the end of Q3 stands at 14.7 MMT against the target of 15.4 MMT; the FY'22 target is 20.4 MMT. Natural gas output for the 9 months stands at 15.7 BCM - against the target of 18.7 BCM. The gas production target for FY'22 is 25.03 BCM. We have achieved about 95.5% and 84% of our crude oil and natural gas production targets respectively. Further push is required. In drilling, we have completed 293 wells till December 2021 against a target of 363 wells, which translates to around 81% achievement only. But I am confident that you, energy soldiers, will not leave any stone unturned to close this gap as much as possible.
• Financially, ONGC has been outperforming itself. I am happy to share that we registered a Gross Revenue of Rs. 24,353 crore in the second Quarter of Financial Year 2021-22, which is up by 44% quarter-on-quarter; the net profit was Rs. 18,348 crore in Q2, which is the highest PAT in a single quarter ever registered by our company. We are optimistic about the third quarter as well.
• Our foreign arm ONGC Videsh and our subsidiaries and joint ventures registered good performances during the same period despite the inevitable odds arising out of the pandemic and weak global economic fundamentals.
• Dear colleagues, the energy business is under transition towards a Greener variant. The Hon'ble Prime Minister of India has pledged to achieve 'Net Zero' emissions by the year 2070. In line with the Prime Minister's vision, ONGC has started work on re-designing its business model to align itself with the future trajectory of the energy industry. Our Energy Strategy 2040 is a strategic blueprint for our future, reaching deeper into green energy quadrant while aggressively continuing our core hydrocarbon E&P business for the current energy security of the nation. While remaining strongly invested in Oil & Gas in our endeavor to provide energy to the country, we are also looking beyond hydrocarbons and steadily increasing our footprint in renewables; be it geo-thermal, solar, offshore wind or hydrogen. We have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for development of renewable energy-based power and other Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) projects. Sustainability is a core agenda for ONGC as a future-ready organisation, with a young workforce raring to take ONGC to the next level in the years to come.
• Our conversations in social media are getting more engagement - our Twitter handle was tagged over 700 times last month, over 300% rise compared to the month before.

During last year, ONGC has ranked among the top global corporations. Some of the noteworthy recognitions are:

• We ranked 25^th in Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings 2021
• 243^rd globally and 4^th in India in Fortune Global 500 List 2021
• Featured in Forbes Worlds' Best Employers List 2021

ONGC has also been bestowed with numerous awards -I would like to share some of these:

1. We were conferred with FIPI's Exploration Company of the Year Award 2021
2. Bagged the Golden Peacock National Training Award 2021
3. Won Golden Peacock Environment Management Award for the second consecutive year
4. Bagged four accolades at Governance Now 8th PSU Awards
5. Conferred with AIMA Award in CSR and FICCI award in Healthcare for the Siu-Ka-Pha Multi-Speciality Hospital in Sivasagar, which has benefitted over 46,000 patients in its initial two and a half years itself.
6. ONGC received Asian Leadership Award for Excellence in Branding and Marketing, including an award for our employee website ONGCReports as the Best in-house online communication tool
7. We featured in Great Place to Work list of India's Best Employers 2021 among Nation-Builders - plus, we were certified as a Great Place to Work, second time in a row.

ONGC is grateful to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for its constant support and guidance with regard to various issues requiring State/Central Government support.

आप सब जानते हैं कि यह वर्ष भारतीय स्वतंत्रता का गौरवशाली 75^वाँ वर्ष है। गत वर्ष "आज़ादी का अमृत महोत्सव" का शुभारम्भ हुआ जिसमें ओएनजीसी पारंपरिक भारतीय हस्तशिल्प को बढ़ावा देने के लिए छह राज्यों में छह हस्तशिल्प परियोजनाएं शुरू करके तेल सार्वजनिक उपक्रमों के बीच एक महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभा रही है। ओएनजीसी द्वारा कुल 15 ऐसी परियोजनाएं शुरू की जाएंगी जिनसे स्वदेशी शिल्प में लगे हजारों कारीगरों और शिल्पकारों को लाभ होगा। मैं सबसे आव्हान करूँगी कि आप इन हस्तशिल्पों को अपने अपने कार्य स्थलों में नयी उचाइयों तक ले जाने में सहयोग करें ताकि ONGC के इन प्रयासों को गति मिल सके।

आज़ादी का अमृत महोत्सव के अंतर्गत एक और पहल जिसमें हमारे हर work centre में विद्यार्थीयों को E&P के विषय में परिचय देने के लिए field visits के ONGC प्रयासों को माननीय प्रधान मंत्री द्वारा दिसंबर 2021 में अपने "मन की बात" रेडियो कार्यक्रम के दौरान सराहना की गई। ये हमारे लिए बड़े गर्व का विषय है।

Dear Colleagues, COVID-19 pandemic, while creating countless challenges, has also given us the opportunity to reinvent ourselves digitally. Digital technologies are significantly aiding us in achieving our business objectives. Technology will be the driver for the next chapter of ONGC's evolution as an energy entity. A Digital Centre of Excellence has been established to scout and induct latest Industry 4.0 technologies for enhancing efficiency in E&P operations. Initiatives like Digital Centre of Excellence (DCOE), Vendor Invoice Management System (VIMS) and implementation of SAP HANA will move us further towards improved performance, accelerated digitization, reduced transaction processing and gaining better insights from improved analytics.

For our most important asset - our employees - we continued to review and improve welfare measures towards enhanced employee experience in ONGC. Some of these are:

• Enhancement of support under CSSS
• Revision of laptop scheme
• Revision of remuneration, health insurance coverage for tenure based field employees, contracts medics, contingent personnel.

We have made the hospital referral process completely digitized through ONGCares, which has been on-boarded by more than 45,000 ONGC beneficiaries till date. For our retired employees - the Forever ONGCians - the OPD claims have been made online on Bandhan website. Many more online facilities are being created in Bandhan which will make our bandhan with our forever ONGCians stronger. We have also enhanced the scheme for felicitation of retired employees.

Today, I am happy to announce that we have approved a Health care package for our superannuated ONGCians and other beneficiaries who are availing post-retirement medical facility from ONGC. Under the scheme, as a one-time facilitation, they can purchase health care items within a reimbursement ceiling of Rs. 5000/-.

Various processes like Medical Board, Transfer Review, ADCs, Selection Interviews, Training processes - have been made online now, bringing us improved efficiency, transparency and resource optimization..

To add to our most resourceful asset, we are inducting around 900 executives and more than 950 staff. ONGC has incorporated sustainability in our talent acquisition by adopting a Green recruitment approach through online processes.

We are upgrading our Mentoring approach to deliver best-in-class mentoring to our younger employees - the future leaders of ONGC. We have launched several excellent initiatives in Capacity Building such as Harvard Manage Mentee program covering more than 3100 executives. We also became the first PSE to onboard Learning Management System under Mission Karmayogi launched by Hon'ble Prime Minister. We continued to conduct various employee engagement initiatives to keep the workforce energized, informed and motivated, such as People Connect sessions, business games for executives, Abhivyakti for non-executives, Mosaic- online games for PwD employees.

Our focus on diversity & inclusion remains steadfast. To enhance the gender equity, a new flagship program on Women Leadership Development - Urjasvini, has been launched, to mentor and develop high-potential women executives for greater responsibilities.

On the Sporting front, ONGCians continued to bring laurels to the nation. Seven ONGC sports persons represented India in Tokyo Olympics, and three of them, as part of Senior Indian Men's Hockey Team were instrumental in bagging the Olympic Bronze medal for India after a gap of 41 years.

In our continued efforts towards creating impactful social & economic development in our communities, ONGC implemented CSR projects worth more than Rs.550 crores during 2020-21, which brings a lot of pride & satisfaction to each ONGCian.

It is heartening to know that four of our ONGC Fire Personnel have been awarded Fire Service Medal on the occasion of Republic Day 2022. We will also be acknowledging the award winning performers of the year through a virtual event tomorrow starting at 11:00 hrs.

Dear colleagues, with the wisdom of our great energy leaders, ONGC has set a rich legacy over several decades establishing ourselves as the Energy Anchor of India. Notwithstanding new challenges, I see a bright future for ONGC as the energy needs of India grow with growing economic prosperity. We are already the third largest consumer of oil globally and with a growing young population, expanding economy, accelerated urbanization and rapid industrialization and energy demand is expected to grow the fastest in the world. In this scenario, ONGC's contributions shall remain critical for boosting energy security of the nation. With our dedicated Energy Soldiers, ONGC is committed and confident of setting new landmarks in fulfilling the energy needs of growing India.

Let us all come together more strongly than ever before and embrace the challenges with perseverance & optimism to make them into stepping stones for a brighter, more resilient and sustainable future for all.

एक बार फिर आप सबको गणतंत्र दिवस की असीम शुभकामनाएँ |

जय हिंद।