Qualified with a Post Graduate degree in Solid State Physics from University of Bangalore (Bengaluru) in 1974 and a PGDBM (Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management) from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad in 1976, Ajjampur Rangaiah Ghanashyam (ARG) spent six years in Mumbai (three in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and three more in Shipping Corporation of India). 

 

He joined the IFS (Indian Foreign Service) in 1982 and served in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi and abroad for 34 years. In his tenure in the IFS he worked in Damascus (Syria) where he also studied Arabic, Kathmandu (Nepal), Brussels (Belgium, Luxembourg and European Union), Islamabad (Pakistan) and New York (United States). He was India’s Envoy to eight countries stationed in Angola and Nigeria. He also worked for Five Prime Ministers of India starting with Rajiv Gandhi. 

 

Selected Assignments prior to his joining the IFS include 

(i) Merger of M/S Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) & M/S CALTEX Oil

(ii) Developing an optimum POL national distribution system for HPCL

(iii) Designing a Crude Oil Transportation Model to optimize Crude Oil Movement by sea from West Asia to Indian Refineries and 

(iv) Managing a fleet of Indian oil tankers in the war torn Iran-Iraq war zone. 

 

Important assignments in the IFS include – 

(i) Demarcation of land Boundaries of India with Nepal and Bhutan and managing the sharing of natural resources (Water & Energy) between India and Nepal/Bhutan, 

(ii) Holding an Investment Business Meet in Brussels for India with 500 European companies and another at New Delhi with 1000 European Companies, 

(iii) Finalizing 132 Indo-Belgian Joint Venture companies, 

(iv) Facilitating the release of 235 passengers, crew and aircraft from hijackers of Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 in Kandahar, Afghanistan (December 1999), 

(vi) Introducing Angolan crude oil to India 

(vii) Streamlining the process of Hajj pilgrimage to make it transparent and efficient through innovative improvements appreciated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, 

(viii) Revamping Indian Passport & Visa regimes to make them efficient and transparent, 

(ix) Arranging direct G2G term contracts for Oil replacing private proxy Agencies in Nigeria effecting recurring annual savings of several hundreds of crores of Rupees. 

 

Addresses by ARG on a variety of subjects delivered to audiences in several Indian institutions including - National Defence College (NDC), New Delhi, Army War College, MHOW, Indian Institutes of Management, International School of Business (ISB-Hyderabad), National and Regional Chambers of Commerce & Industries, Universities and NGOs. 

 

Audiences addressed abroad include US Universities - Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Boston, MIT, Tufts, Asia Society (New York), Council on Foreign Relations (New York) and Universities, The Asia Society, Government and Non-Governmental Think Tanks and Apex Business Bodies in Nepal, Pakistan, USA, Belgium, Angola and Nigeria.