Dr. U D Choubey, Chairman and Managing Director, GAIL (India) Limited has been honoured with the ‘Pragya Puraskar’ by the Andhra Cultural & Welfare Society. Shri K. Padmanabhaiah, IAS (Retd.), Former Home Secretary to the Government of India honoured Dr. Choubey during the Annual Cultural and Film Festival 2008 organised by the Society in New Delhi yesterday.
The honour has been given to Dr. Choubey in recognition of his contribution to the hydrocarbon sector in the country.
Dr. U.D. Choubey is a Post Graduate in Chemistry, MBA in Marketing and holds a Law degree. He holds a Ph.D. in "Hydrocarbon Derived from Coal and Petroleum" from ISM Dhanbad. Dr. Choubey has over 30 years of experience in Energy Sector particularly in Natural Gas and also in Fertilizers & Chemicals. He has authored a book titled "A Text Book on Natural Gas". He has presented papers at several International Gas Conferences and chaired sessions in the international prestigious conferences/seminars.
Dr. Choubey has received the Distinguished Fellowship Award of Institute of Directors (IOD) in August 2007 for his contribution in the field of natural gas marketing and market development. Besides, Dr. Choubey has also received Graduate School of Business & Administration Top Rankers Excellence Awards in November 2007 in the Achievers Award 2006-07 category. Dr. Choubey has also been given the Amity Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this year.
Under his leadership, GAIL has initiated several new projects aimed at consolidating its premier position in the industry. This includes the augmentation of company’s transportation network from the existing 7,000 km to about 12,000 km by 2011. GAIL has also announced the plans to expand its presence in Petrochemicals with 2 mega projects one each in India and abroad. He has also proposed the concept of CNG corridors which would not only reduce pollution as well as costs, but also help reduce the subsidy by replacing liquid fuels to the corresponding substituted degree.
Dr. Choubey was the first oil and gas CEO to ask the industry to follow a collaborative rather than confrontationist approach. This view is now echoed by all the leading industry players.