Indian Oil to focus on upskilling employees for green energy roles: Govil, Director, HR

Indian Oil’s HR head said the company is enhancing employee skills and training people to lead teams in the green energy sphere.

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) plans to develop the capabilities of employees to transition them into green energy roles, Director, Human Resources, Rashmi Govil, said.

Govil added that Indian Oil is looking to train its employees for the company’s green energy initiatives by launching programmes and certification courses. “We are doing a lot of transition programmes, whereby employees, if not completely capable of taking over a job, will still have a fair amount of knowledge of what this field is all about. We are focused on this and doing it in a structured manner,” she added, and explained that the company is  training employees to lead teams in the green energy sphere.

“We are following a two-pronged approach. One, we will identify a group of people who will be trained to run renewable energy businesses, be it solar, wind, or any other energy source. At the same time, we also want to run certification courses and open it up for the public at large. That’s how we are trying to cover a large gamut of people,” she added.

The state-run company, which has the largest refining capacity in India, plans to be net-zero by 2046. The company plans to invest Rs 2 lakh crore to meet its emissions target.

In order to achieve the same, the company is working on green energy initiatives, including green hydrogen, compressed biogas (CBG) plants, and 2G and 3G ethanol plants.

Digitisation

Regarding the company’s plans on digitisation, Govil said that IOCL  is working towards including artificial intelligence (AI) in its functions. She highlighted that AI could be used in core processes, which would help determine which crude mix would yield the best results, while also helping IOCL interact better with employees.

“AI is going to  be used in our processes. For instance, we are looking at making digital twins of our production units. That will allow us to experiment with which feed will give what crude or product mix,  or what will be the most efficient combination  for feeding the stock. What could be the maximum output with minimum emissions? That would be a big use case,” asserted Govil.

According to Teamlease, the oil and gas sector reported robust hiring growth, with an estimated  20-24 percent increase compared to the previous year, indicating positive momentum in the industry. The surge in hiring was primarily observed in AI and machine learning (AI/ML) roles, it said.

“While not uniform across all sectors, this surge is observed in roles that involve AI and machine learning, such as data analytics and operational optimisation. Additionally, as companies navigate the transition towards greener energy sources, there is a discernible spike in hiring for roles facilitating the integration of renewables into conventional operations,” said Dhriti Prasanna Mahanta, Vice President and Business Head, TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship.

Women's participation 

Govil said women comprise 9.8 percent of the  workforce at IOCL. She said that globally, the energy sector has fewer women due to its challenging nature.

However, Govil added that Indian Oil has consistently maintained or increased its proportion of women employees, which indicates that the company is on the right path.

“Every year, we have seen an increase in the percentage of women in the workforce. Which shows that we are going in the right direction,” maintained Govil.

Mahanta said the energy sector in India has been primarily dominated by men, creating a gender disparity, especially in renewable energy. “Despite the ample opportunities available for women, only 10-12 percent of India’s renewable energy workforce is female, compared to the global average of 32 percent. However, there are signs of progress as more women take leadership roles and contribute  to India’s renewable energy sector,” she added.