By Enersider Desk
Deepak Gupta will succeed Sandeep Kumar Gupta as the next Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of GAIL India Ltd following the latter’s superannuation on February 28. Gupta is currently serving as Director (Projects) at GAIL India.
Gupta was among the 12 candidates who had applied for the top post. Other shortlisted candidates included Rajeev Kumar Singhal, Director (Business Development), GAIL India; Ajay Tripathi, Executive Director, GAIL India; Ashu Shinghal, Executive Director, GAIL India; Atul Kumar Tripathi, Executive Director (Projects); Anupam Mukhopadhyay, CEO, GAIL India; Kamal Kishore Chatiwal, Managing Director, Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL); Kapil Kumar Jain, Executive Director, GAIL India; Satish Kumar Sinha, Executive Director, GAIL India; Atul Gupta, Director (Commercial), Engineers India Limited (EIL); Anuj Jain, Director (Finance), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL); and Dr. Pudi Hariprasad, Chief Administrative Officer, Railways.
A Mechanical Engineer from Delhi College of Engineering, Deepak Gupta brings with him 35 years of rich and multifaceted experience in the oil and gas sector. He has led the execution of large-scale and complex projects from concept to commissioning across multiple implementation models, including EPC (LSTK), EPCM, OBE, and PMC.
During his tenure at Engineers India Limited (EIL), Gupta played a pivotal role in the implementation of the USD 19 billion, 650 KBPSD Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Complex in Nigeria—the largest refinery on the African continent. He also led the delivery of the HMEL Bhatinda Polymer Project, one of India’s largest petrochemical installations, and India’s first greenfield refinery project in Mongolia, thereby contributing significantly to India’s global energy diplomacy.
Gupta has also made substantial contributions to other strategic assets, including the Petrochemical Expansion Project at Pata for GAIL and the PFCC unit under MRPL’s Phase III Expansion at Mangalore. In addition, he has authored several technical papers on critical project packages and fast-track execution methodologies. His ideas on project acceleration, digitisation, and execution excellence have been institutionalised as best practices within organisations.
His professional interests span innovation in project execution, petrochemical infrastructure development, digitalisation, systems improvement, and long-term strategies for sustainable business growth. Industry experts note that his ability to seamlessly integrate multidisciplinary and cross-functional teams across geographies has been a cornerstone of his success in delivering mission-critical infrastructure in complex and challenging environments.
Deepak Gupta will be stepping into the role vacated by Sandeep Kumar Gupta, an accomplished professional in his own right. The outgoing CMD has also served as Chairman of Mahanagar Gas Limited, Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited, and GAIL Gas Limited, and as a Director on the Board of Petronet LNG Limited.
Meanwhile, GAIL India continues to advance its clean energy and consumer-focused initiatives. In January, the company initiated the tendering process for Project Management Consultancy (PMC) services for a 600 MW ground-mounted solar PV project integrated with a 550 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at Tehsil Garautha, Jhansi. The project forms part of GAIL’s ambition to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2035.
Under the proposed contract, the PMC will oversee design review, quality assurance, construction supervision, installation, commissioning, and operations and maintenance (O&M) monitoring. The contract tenure is 36 months, with payments linked to milestone-based deliverables. The project marks a significant step in GAIL’s renewable energy expansion, combining large-scale solar generation with advanced energy storage to support captive consumption at GAIL units.
GAIL India’s wholly-owned subsidiary GAIL Gas, in January, announced a Re 1 reduction in CNG prices and a cut in domestic piped natural gas (PNG) rates following the rationalisation of pipeline tariffs. The move came shortly after Indraprastha Gas Limited reduced PNG prices in Delhi and NCR by Rs 0.70 per standard cubic metre. Earlier, Think Gas had also announced a reduction of Rs 2.50 per kg in CNG prices and cuts of up to Rs 5 per standard cubic metre in PNG rates.
