E.S. Ranganathan is managing director (MD), Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), the largest compressed natural gas (CNG) distribution company in the country. An instrumentation and control engineer with an MBA in marketing, he brings to IGL rich experience in leading, managing and implementing large projects and business solutions in the oil and gas sector. His vast experience ranges across the areas of pipeline projects, operations and maintenance (O&M), business development and business information systems. These areas have required engineering and planning; process, scope, resource and schedule management; enterprise resource planning; technology upgradation; vendor management; and quality assurance.
Various new initiatives aimed at ensuring growth have been successfully implemented in IGL during his tenure as MD. The addition of new areas of operation and aggressive expansion in existing geographical areas (GAs) has ensured a consistent growth rate of 10-12 per cent for the company. This has been achieved through multidimensional efforts undertaken to effectively manage all stakeholders.
Prior to his present assignment, Ranganathan was executive director (corporate O&M) in GAIL (India) Limited, where he worked for over three decades and has significant achievements to his credit. He was responsible for the successful commissioning of the Dahej-Vijaipur, Vijaipur-Dadri and Bawana-Nangal pipeline projects. He has also overseen the development and commercialisation of GAIL’s state-of-the-art ultrasonic meter testing facility at Hazira, the first in Asia. A firm believer in leveraging technology for business solutions, Ranganathan, as head of business information systems in GAIL, played a pioneering role in using technology towards smart working in the fields of O&M and project management.
Ranganathan is actively involved in various industry forums in India and overseas. He is member, technical, on the governing board of the Fluid Control and Research Institute and was a member of the team finalising Indian standards for meter design and construction under the aegis of the Bureau of Indian Standards. Due to his vast experience in pipeline projects, Ranganathan has been a consultant to the Asian Development Bank in revamping of gas pipeline systems in Afghanistan, has been representing the country at the Pipeline Operators Forum, the Netherlands and is a working group member of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project.