Pharma company Cadila enters energy business
After pharmaceuticals giant Sun Pharma and water tank manufacturer Sintex, Ahmedabad-headquartered pharmaceuticals multinational Cadila is the latest to diversify into the energy sector in what seems like a growing trend.
And the really good news is that it's hiring. Cadila gas retail company IRM Energy on April 25 won Banaskantha in north Gujarat and Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab under the sixth retail gas licensing round.
Some might be sceptical about the qualifications of IRM which was set up only on December 1, 2015, just days before the bid submission deadline on December 14, 2015. But people looking for jobs in these turbulent times aren't complaining.
"IRM is on an aggressive recruitment drive," says a Gujarat Gas source. "They're poaching people left, right and centre from Gujarat Gas, Sabarmati Gas and Adani." Another source points out that former Sintex group CEO Sunil Kanojiya, who handled oil and gas, joined Cadila in August 2015 as chief operating officer.
A Cadila team is also visiting other gas retailers to learn all it can about the business. "A team from Cadila visited one of our CNG mother stations in June," reports an Adani source.
IRM directors include Cadila CMD Rajiv Indravadan Modi, his wife Monika Modi, and Cadila official Amitabha Banerjee. All correspondence between IRM and the PNGRB is handled by Cadila executive Arun Vora who is the company's authorised signatory.
