Tripathi, whom the government had in July last year denied an extension of service as Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL India Ltd till he reached his superannuation age six months later, has taken a non-executive position on the board of the Mauritius-based firm, sources privy to the development said.
He will chair the board but will not hold any executive position in the company, they said, adding Tripathi will provide managerial and functional advice for overseas E&P assets of the Essar group.
Essar Exploration & Production Ltd Mauritius (EEPLM) is an early-stage developer, focussed primarily on oil & gas exploration, Ruias-owned Essar group said on its website.
"Its global portfolio includes conventional acreages as well as unconventional hydrocarbon acreages that have a resource base of 15 trillion cubic feet of gas. It has invested HSD 1.1 billion in various acreages across the world," it said.
Tripathi, 59, who was the youngest person to become a chairman of an oil and gas PSU in August 2009, completed his second five-year term on July 31 and was eligible for an extension till his date of superannuation in January 2020. But, the government declined an extension.
As per the government rules, any functional director of a PSU denied an extension of service for reasons other than vigilance is not governed by a mandatory one-year cooling-off period.
"No functional Director of the company including the Chief Executive who has retired/resigned from the service of the company, after such retirement/ resignation, shall accept any appointment or post, whether advisory or administrative, in any firm or company, whether Indian or foreign, with which the company has or had business relations, within one year from the date of retirement without prior approval of the Government," the rule states.
This, however, does not apply to those who are denied an extension for reasons other than proven misconduct.
"The term retirement includes resignation; but not in cases where the term of appointment was not extended by the Government for reasons other than proven misconduct," the DPE's latest circular issued in April 2018 states.
Tripathi was appointed Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL by the Congress-led UPA government in 2009, for an initial five-year term. His extension was due to be reviewed in 2014, but the UPA government in October 2013 approved another five-year term till July 31, 2019.
Prior to taking over as CMD, Tripathi had served as Director of Marketing at GAIL from July 2007 to July 31, 2009.
NTPC chairman Arup Roy Choudhury was denied an extension in August 2015 during the first term of the Narendra Modi government even though he had two years to go before retirement. In the oil sector, ONGC chairman Subir Raha, GAIL chairman Proshanto Benerjee, Bharat Petroleum chief Ashok Sinha and Indian Oil Corp (IOC) chairman Sarthak Behuria were all denied extensions. ANZ BAL