HPCL chief remebers jorhat

HPCL chief salutes teachers ROOPAK GOSWAMI Subir Roy Choudhury Guwahati, Aug. 2: A salute to his teachers at Jorhat Engineering College was his way of expressing his gratitude on reaching another milestone in what has been a chequered career. “I salute all my teachers for their guidance in helping me reach the pinnacle of my success,” Subir Roy Choudhury, who took over as the chairman-cum-managing director of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd today, told The Telegraph in an e-mail. Choudhury, who was the director (marketing) of HPCL since May 2004, will take charge when he joins the organisation’s office in Mumbai. He was born on March 1, 1954. Reminiscing about his days at Jorhat Engineering College when he was doing mechanical engineering (1970-75), Choudhury felt nostalgic about his college days and friends. “I cannot forget Bora canteen, Sharma dada’s 5 star hotel and Govinds Mall,” he said. He was all praises for the then principal Debajit Chaliha. He commenced his career in the petroleum industry with Assam Oil Company, Digboi, a subsidiary of Burma Oil company. He joined HPCL on June 21, 1982, as a construction engineer where he is credited with creating a pipelines division in HPCL and has successfully completed several pipeline projects. Choudhury was also responsible for the smooth transition from the administered price mechanism to non-administered price mechanism era in the area of product supplies and distribution. HPCL is a Fortune500 company, with an annual turnover of Rs 108,599 crore in 2009-10, having nearly 20 per cent marketing share in India and a strong market infrastructure. It operates two major refineries, one in Mumbai (West Coast) of 6.5 million metric tonnes per annum capacity and the other in Vishakapatnam, (East Coast) with a capacity of 8.3 million metric tonnes per annum. Choudhury said he would like to visit his college if he got time which would probably be in 2011. “I do come once a year,” he said. His advice to youths is to “Work, work and work, never give up.” He also has plans for Assam, aiming at increasing the number of retail outlets by another 50 from the current 36. There would also be an increase in LPG distributorship. “It is a matter of pride for the college,” Atul Bora, the principal of Jorhat Engineering College, told The Telegraph. As the college will completing 50 years this year, Bora said they would like to interact more with Choudhury. Dipak Chakravarty, the director (technical) Numaligarh Refinery Ltd, who was Choudhury’s colleague at Assam Oil Company, Digboi is equally proud of him. “He was very knowledgeable and very hardworking,” he said. As a person, Choudhury is an amiable person and a great one to talk with. “But the best thing was he never forgot his roots and still keeps in touch despite his busy schedule,” Chakravarty said, adding that they would like to felicitate him when he comes visiting.