The hallmark of a great achiever is their character and courage, which comes by the initiatives they take and the decisions they make. And R K Dutta, Chairman & Managing Director, Oil India Ltd. is one of those individuals, who by their unusual initiatives and exemplary courage have reached where few have been able to make it. Known for his crucial decision making abilities and deep understanding of the oil and natural gas business, Dutta has an added bonus. He is very hard-working, and his missionary zeal coupled with foresightedness have made OIL one of the premier Indian national oil companies engaged in the business of exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas, transportation of crude oil and production of LPG.

The Company, under the leadership of Dutta and his predecessors, has been able to augment its operations to over 1 lakh sq km of license areas. In fact, OIL's exploratory efforts under the leadership of man like Dutta has led to discovery of 85 oil & gas fields with total established in-place reserves of 842 MMT of oil & soil equivalent of gas. A man who carries with him 35 years of rich experience in the petroleum industry, Dutta has to his credit the distinction of helping both upstream and downstream petroleum business in India.

In fact, after taking over as the Chairman & Managing Director of OIL, he has taken a number of initiatives to steer the Company towards the path of growth. Prior to his present assignment, Dutta was the first Managing Director of Numaligarh Refinery Limited and was also the first Executive Director of Indian Oil Corporation's Assam Oil Division. Not surprisingly, during his tenure as MD of Numaligarh project, the refinery was set up and commissioned successfully and made profits in the very first year of operation.

He was also instrumental in giving a tremendous boost to the modernisation of Digboi refinery and speedy implementation of NRL. A highly respected figure in the oil business, Dutta, in recognition to his exemplary contribution to the energy sector was awarded with 'Best Energy Man of the Year 2002' by the Foundation of Indian Industries & Economists in association with Price Waterhouse & Coopers. A natural leader, who is flexible and a strategist, a resource manager and master of corporate governance, Dutta is certainly poised for a turning point in its history.