Kumar Shanker begins tenure as managing director of Indraprastha Gas
Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL), India’s largest urban gas distributor, on Monday announced that Kumar Shanker has taken over as managing director. He will replace Kamal Kishore Chatiwal, who returned to parent company GAIL (India) Ltd after completing his three-year tenure with the company.
Shanker is a chemical engineer graduated from BITS Pilani and has over three decades of experience in India’s oil and gas sector. Its expertise covers natural gas processing, petrochemicals, project management, corporate strategy, marketing, regulatory affairs and city gas distribution, IGL said in a statement.
Shanker’s experience and career highlights
Before joining IGL as a senior executive, Shanker served as managing director of Maharashtra Natural Gas Ltd (MNGL); here the company has emerged as one of India’s top five urban gas distributors in terms of growth, profitability and expansion of domestic piped gas infrastructure.
Shanker has worked across multiple business verticals and locations, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi, over a 30-year career at GAIL, the company said. He is also closely involved in key regulatory issues related to gas pipeline tariffs, open access and network authorizations.
Shanker also played a key role in launching the unified tariff mechanism for India’s national gas grid, a reform aimed at improving access to natural gas across the country.
Business overview
IGL is a joint venture between GAIL (India) Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL). The company operates as one of the country’s leading urban gas distribution companies, supplying compressed natural gas (CNG) and piped natural gas (PNG) to key urban areas.
Apart from its main promoters, the National Capital Territory Government of Delhi also holds a 5% stake in the company.
IGL operates urban gas distribution networks in 33 districts across four states, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. It has laid a network of more than 30,000 km of pipelines and supplies compressed natural gas through more than 1,000 stations.
The gas distributor also serves more than 2.1 million CNG vehicles and connects approximately 3.5 million households with piped natural gas.
IGL increases CNG rate
In May, Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) increased the CNG price as follows: ₹2 per kilogram, the rates in Delhi are as follows: ₹83.09 per kg. This was the fourth increase in less than two weeks, with prices tripling in just 10 days amid a series of rapid revisions, Mint previously reported.
The increases reflect a broader pattern of fluctuating fuel cost pressures on the Indian economy, largely driven by disruptions to global crude oil supply routes following the military conflict in the Middle East.
