Anil Jain to head Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board

17 May 2023 , 08:17 AM

Anil Kumar Jain, a former coal secretary, has been chosen to lead the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).

Jain, an IAS officer from Madhya Pradesh’s 1986 batch, has spent more than ten years creating policy for the energy industry at the coal and petroleum ministries as well as Niti Aayog. Jain holds a degree in energy studies and has written a book and several papers on the domestic natural gas industry.

His appointment will fill a vacancy that has existed since December 2020. Jain’s appointment follows three unsuccessful attempts to fill the job over the previous two years. The petroleum ministry’s selection panel chose former electricity secretary Sanjeev Sahai, former petroleum secretary Tarun Kapoor, and former BPCL chairman Arun Singh, but they were not nominated to the PNGRB.

Jain’s term will last for five years or until he becomes 65, whichever comes first. Dinesh Sarraf, who was his predecessor, served only a three-year term. Under Sarraf, PNGRB started a number of reforms in the nation’s gas industry and significantly increased the city gas distribution industry.

To enable the natural gas market to thrive, Jain will need to actively supervise the city gas expansion, address the issue of distributor exclusivity in the marketing infrastructure, and further simplify the regulatory system.

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