A total of 27 candidates meet the eligibility criteria and all of them will be interviewed.Sharma was the first choice of PESB in the initial interviews done in August 2006. Hazarika was the second best choice, but the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) scrapped the panel and asked for a broader selection process by inviting candidates from the private sector too.

The PMO did not make any adverse remarks against either Sharma or Hazarika but rather questioned the selection process, making it explicit that they were eligible for future selection.

Hindustan Petroleum’s subsidiary Prize Petroleum CEO M N Prasad, Essar Oil vice-president H N Belawat, Surya Roshi president B B Pradhan, Singareni Collieries director J V Dattatreyulu, Borosil Glass Works director R V Pillai, Hubli Electric Supply director (finance) K Muthupandian and Agasthya Biofarm India Ltd chairman D Aravindakshan are among the candidates who meet the eligibility criteria for the top job.

The official said that prominent among the candidates is 56-year old Jung, who in 1995 resigned from the civil services after a 23-year stint to join the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He was the joint secretary (exploration) in early 1990s and is currently a visiting fellow at Oxford Energy Research Centre, London. He also served as director (energy research) at the Reliance Industries-funded

Observer Research Foundation. Besides Jung, only Butola had not appeared for the August 2006 interviews conducted by PSEB.