Manoj Jain joins Torrent
Former GAIL chairman Manoj Jain has joined Torrent Gas.
"Jain has joined Torrent," confirms a Torrent source. "But there is no clarity whether he has joined as head of city gas, as an advisor, or in any other capacity."
On October 3 (2023), Jain was seen at Torrent Gas's new office on the SG Highway connecting Ahmedabad with Gandhinagar. Earlier this year (2023), employees gradually moved to the new office from the old office at Samanvay building in Ahmedabad, which had housed the company since 2018.
"State-owned directors and chairmen join private sector companies after retirement," comments a source matter-of-fact. "The list is long."
Former GAIL chairman BC Tripathi joined Essar after retirement in March 2020; former Petronet-LNG managing director Prabhat Singh joined Reliance in November 2020, soon after former IndianOil chairman Sanjiv Singh joined Reliance in August 2020. "Private companies offer high salaries to these experienced people," says our source.
A rival gas retailer believes Torrent is lucky to have recruited Jain. "He (Jain) comes with lots of experience and is a prize catch," he says.
Jain retired as GAIL chairman on August 31 (2022) and is believed to have been talking to Torrent since then. Previously GAIL director business development, Jain was also head of GAIL Global (USA) LNG and Konkan LNG, which operates the 5m t/y Dabhol terminal.
Before that, he was executive director (gas marketing). Jain will have to match the fast pace of Torrent, which entered the business in May 2018 but has since then, through aggressive acquisitions, built a presence in 17 geographical areas spread across 34 districts covering seven states and one union territory.
Contacted for a comment, Torrent's official spokesperson did not respond to messages and calls. Neither did Jain.