Chairman & Nominee Director

Mr. Singhal, Director (BD), GAIL, is an Electronics and Communication Engineer from IIT BHU Varanasi with Diploma in Business and Finance-ICFAI. He joined GAIL in 1989 and has spent more than 3 decades at GAIL in various profiles. He has gained extensive exposure in operation & maintenance of natural gas installations, SCADA / Telecom, LNG Sourcing, Trading, Shipping, Marketing and Business Development activities covering Merger & Acquisition, Diversification, Renewables / Green Hydrogen, etc.

Presently as Director (Business Development), he is responsible for building GAIL’s Business Portfolio in India and abroad, Merger and Acquisition, Petrochemical O&M and Expansion, Exploration & Production, Research & Development, Start–Up, Health Safety & Environment management, Quality Management and Project Development.

A few of his notable achievements have been marketing of US LNG to 6 fertiliser plants under long term contract, renegotiation of LNG sourcing contracts from Qatar and Russia, acquisition of JBF Petrochemical Limited, setting up of India’s first Small Scale LNG project and acquisition of 26% stake in Japonica, an LNG vessel company.

Managing Director

Shri Girija Shankar has taken charge as Managing Director on the Board of MNGL w.e.f.5th June 2026.

Shri Girija Shankar is a “B.Tech.” in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Delhi (1993 batch) & “Masters in Marketing Management” from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai.

He joined GAIL in the year 1993 and over the next three decades has worked in various roles across various domains including Projects, Operation & Maintenance of cross country Natural Gas  pipelines & associated Gas terminals, Marketing of Gas, Petrochemical & Liquid Hydrocarbon products of GAIL & recently as Managing Director of Green Gas Limited, a prominent City Gas Distribution company operating in the important Geographical Areas of Lucknow, Agra, Ayodhya & Sultanpur and Unnao. This cross functional and multifarious experience has enabled him to gain deep insight on all aspects of the gas and LNG value chain and City Gas Distribution.

During this journey of 3 decades Shri Girija Shankar has played an instrumental role in GAILs various achievements. He was keenly associated in the construction of Propane Recovery Project at GAILs Vijaipur Complex in Guna MP and also implementing the ISO 9001 system across HBJ Pipeline. As In-Charge of Management Control Centre of HBJ cross country pipeline, he has to his credit the efficient and effective management of GAILs HBJ pipeline managing Gas Supply & Demand across India in the 90s. In the journey of development of gas business in the country all along and GAIL in particular, he has played a key role setting up of Regional Gas Management Centres across the country, Commissioning of GAILs various pipelines including DUPL- DPPL pipeline system and various Terminals.

A certified Six Sigma Black Belt, Shri Girija Shankar also has extensive experience in the field of Natural Gas / RLNG / LNG / Petrochemical / LHC marketing. As Head of Gas Marketing he was associated with GAILs three Main Zonal Marketing Offices (Mumbai- for Maharashtra & Goa, NCR – for Delhi-NCR, western UP, Haryana and Uttarakhand and Ahmedabad – for Gujrat, Daman and Diu) handling approx. 70% of GAILs revenue in gas business & covering approx. 60% of customers. Shri Girija Shankar has also experience of working at GAIL Corporate RLNG Marketing and has played a key role in development of marketing strategies for the GAILs LNG being imported from the Unites States. He also has rich experience in Natural Gas Market Development in Maharashtra/Goa/Uttarakhand/Haryana/Western UP/Gujrat, and expertise in Gas Sales and Transportation Contract management, Regulatory Framework, International LNG Agreements etc.

Prior to joining Green Gas Ltd in June 2024, Sh Girija Shankar was heading GAIL Ahmedabad Zonal Marketing Office which handles the Gas/Petrochemical and Liquid Hydrocarbon Marketing across the state of Gujarat, Daman & Diu. In his previous assignments he has been instrumental in few path breaking initiatives taken in the LNG industry which included conversion of 3 Gujrat State Transport buses into LNG as a pilot project in 2022 which would pave the way for LNG as a transport fuel in the country and India’s first evacuation of Natural gas thru cascades from onshore gas field of Vedanta in Bharuch-Gujrat. Sh Girija Shankar has also played an instrumental role in implementation of Govt of India’s prestigious CGD/CBG synchronization under SATAT in the state of Gujrat.

An avid reader, he has interest in reading books on multiple subjects like scientific fictions, spirituality, history, polity etc. His favorite writers include eminent names like Dr Deepak Chopra, Fritjoff Capra, Simon Singh etc. to name a few. He has keen interest in Music and Sports. He has also been adjudged as “Mentor’s Mentor” in GAIL’s Mentor-Mentee programme.

On the energy landscape Mr Shankar has remarked that as world is on a cusp of transition of energy from the traditional fossil fuel to less polluting fuels and renewables, India would lead such a transition. Under this transition, Natural Gas would be playing a very important role and especially the City Gas Distribution sector as India has complete focus on an inclusive development of gas infrastructure. The vision to have 12 Crore Household PNG Connections, 17000 CNG stations across the nation by 2030 would catapult the Natural Gas consumption in the CGD sector to a different level altogether. Further the vision of India to have 50% of the power from renewables by 2030, to have 5000 CBG plants by end of this decade and many more initiatives would position India at a pinnacle of energy transformation.

Director (Commercial)

Maj Shankar Karajagi  has taken charge of Director Commercial  on the Board of MNGL w.e.f. 1st August 2024.

He is a multi façade, multi talented  personality who not only has a vast and vivid  experience & knowledge of Oil and Gas Industry but has served in India Army as Major in 414 ASC Bn Mktg TA for 14 years, and  has also  brought laurels to the Nation by winning  the  IRONMAN title which is the worlds toughest one day  endurance sports.

He is a Mechanical  Engineer from N.I.T.K Surthakal, has done his  MBA  from S P Jain Institute of Management & Research Mumbai , has done  a PGD in Technology Mgmnt. in Agriculture  from NAARM Hyderabad University and a few certificate courses. He  has behind  him  33  years of rich and diverse experience in the Oil and Natural Gas Sector encompassing Retail, Industrial and commercial Sales & Marketing, Network expansion, Retail Engineering & Automation, New Product Development, Non Fuel Business Development, Channel Partner Management, POL Operations etc. He also has penned two books called “The Marketing Insights for I&C Soldiers” and  “Ready Reckoner of Natural Gas”

He has a comprehensive and extensive experience in Sales and Marketing of Oil & Gas Retail, I&C, Natural Gas and Non Fuel Business.  He lead  the front end field force in  developing a new product called Pharma Hexane in BPCL when he was posted as Head AP&TS in Hyderabad during 2015-18 replacing 100 % imports.. He has many National and Corporate  awards  to his credit  on Innovation ,Ideas and performance. To name a few  are National Petroleum Innovation Award 2020-21 by MOPNG, BPCL  Chairman’s Best Idea Award 2017, etc.    

He has worked in vivid business verticals of BPCL covering different locations of India via Chennai, Mumbai , Gujarat, Pune, Nagpur, Delhi, Hyderabad and  Bengalore. During his 14 years of Army assignments  worked in different locations across India and has under his sleeves many medals of  Marathons, Duathlons, Triathlons participated within & Outside  India. He believes in simplicity and service to Nation and  passion, discipline, integrity and good health  as the corner stones for success and happiness in life.  

Nominee Director

Shri Debashis Naik
Nominee Director, MNGL

Shri Debashis Naik serves as Nominee Director on the Board of MNGL and is currently Executive Director (Corporate Affairs) at Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), with additional responsibility for Mergers & Acquisitions. A senior petroleum industry professional with over three decades of leadership across retail, lubricants, operations, and corporate governance, he has played a pivotal role in strategic partnerships, JV governance, and regional business expansion.

Professional Experience

• Executive Director – Corporate Affairs, BPCL, Mumbai (Apr 2025 – Present)

• Chief General Manager – Corporate Affairs, BPCL, Mumbai (Apr 2024 – Mar 2025)

• Head – Retail (Eastern Region), BPCL, Kolkata (2021 – 2024)

• Head – Lubricants (Southern Region & Sri Lanka), BPCL, Chennai (2017 – 2021)

• Territory Manager – Retail (Chennai, Bhubaneswar, Raipur), BPCL (2007 – 2017)

• Network & Operations Management (Nagpur, Mumbai, Goa), BPCL (1991 – 2007)

Educational Qualifications

• Independent Directors Certification Program, IIM Bangalore (2024–25)

• MBA – Marketing & Strategy, IMT Nagpur (2005–2008)

• M.A. in International Politics, Jawaharlal Nehru University (1987–1989) – UGC JRF Awardee

Key Achievements

• Conceptualised and executed pioneering greenfield retail projects in the North East for BPCL.

• Introduced board-level governance training for nominee directors of BPCL’s JVs and subsidiaries.

• Developed a hybrid training programme for over one lakh retail outlet staff.

Nominee Director

Mr. Mohit Bhatia is presently working as Director (Commercial) in Indraprastha Gas Ltd. (IGL), the largest CNG distribution Company of the country.  IGL is a joint venture of GAIL (I) Ltd. and BPCL along with Govt. of NCT of Delhi. He was serving as Chief Executive Officer of Haridwar Natural Gas, a joint venture of BPCL with Gail Gas, at Haridwar before joining the current assignment. He has been in leadership roles like State Retail Head of Punjab, Chandigarh and Jammu & Kashmir and Territory Manager of LPG in New Mumbai.  In course of his career in BPCL, Mr. Bhatia has overseen as well as executed sales and marketing activities to deliver an enormous increase in the sales of oil, LPG as well as Natural Gas.

Mr. Bhatia possesses a degree in Civil Engineering from NIT, Suratkhal, Karnataka and an MBA in Marketing from SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai. He is a result oriented & experienced senior leader having over 31 years of experience in the oil & gas sector in the areas of Operations, Engineering and Marketing subsequent to joining BPCL in 1993.

Nominee Director

Mr. Kamal Kishore Chatiwal is the Managing Director of Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), the largest CNG distribution company of the country. Prior to joining IGL, he was Executive Director (O&M, LPG Pipeline) & Zonal ED, Jaipu.

He is an alumni of the prestigious IIT Delhi and has a rich domain experience of over 32 years in Oil & Gas Sector particularly in Project Execution and Commissioning of Mega Petrochemical Projects, Operation & Maintenance of Gas Processing units, Natural Gas Compressor Station and Cross-country LPG Pipeline.

 His expertise also extends to preparation of DFR/scheme for pipeline project, last mile connectivity, production of Green Hydrogen, ammonia, specialty chemicals and renewables.

 He has been actively involved in conceptualization, approval and licensor selection process of India’s 1st Propane Dehydrogenation (PDH) unit and also Polypropylene (PP) plant at GAIL-USAR.

Independent Director

Mrs. Bageshree M. Manthalkar is an Independent Woman Director appointed on the Board of Maharashtra Natural Gas Ltd. (MNGL) w.e.f. 19th March 2021. She is having a wide experience in social work as she is an active social worker for last 3 decades. she has been primarily working in the field of academic betterment of weaker sections of society, through NGOs such as Swa-Roop-Wardhini and Surajya Sarvangin Vikas Prakalpa. Her focus area was betterment of women from low earning groups and children in slums with academic spark. She is also an elected Senate Member of Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra from Graduate Constituency. Mrs. Manthalkar is a commerce graduate and holds a law degree (LLB) from Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune.

She is also an experienced retailer from her petrochemical retail product’s business.