Question : ROLE OF BRBC ORGANISATION FOR ONGC

(a) whether Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has an organisation called Bombay Region Business Centre (BRBC);

(b) whether some of the Directors (Board level) stay at Mumbai most of the time instead of staying at their Headquarters (Dehradun); (c) whether Residential Accommodation and Offices have been hired and/or purchased for these Directors at Mumbai; and

(d) if so, the details thereof including the amount spent on purchasing accommodation and rent being paid to Hotels and other private accommodation by BRBC?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR )

(a): Yes, Sir. This centre is now called Mumbai Region Business Centre (MRBC).

(b) to (d): No, Sir. However, a decision was taken in the 28th Meeting of the Board of Directors of ONGC held on 10.1.1996 that Directors should have the option to decide the station where they could keep their family and avail residential accommodation owned by the ONGC rather than making it compulsory for them to stay only at Dehradun. The then Director(Operations) and the incumbent Director(Drilling) and Director(Finance) retained their allotted flats at Mumbai, owned by ONGC itself, with the approval of the competent authority. These flats had been allocated to the officers prior to their taking over charge as Directors, when they had been working at MRBC in lower posts.