Pankaj Thapliyal joins as President of Smart Utilities, part of Essel Group

-- Mr. Thapliyal’s appointment will help to transform the ageing public utility infra into state of art utility empire

-- His clear foresight & business acumen will help the Company to build cross disciplinary teams in implementing the global best practices in the Indian Utility Space

Dr. Subhash Chandra led diversified Essel conglomerate, today announced the appointment of Mr. Pankaj Thapliyal as President for the Integrated Utility Business, Smart Utilities – the flagship brand of Essel Utilities Distribution Company Ltd. Smart Utilities is India’s first Integrated Utility Company which is committed towards delivering smart value and efficiency by participating in public-private partnership projects across India to transform the ageing public utility infrastructure into modern state of the art utility realm.

Speaking on the appointment of Mr. Thapliyal, Mr. Ashok Agarwal, CEO, Essel Infraprojects, said, “We welcome Pankaj on board. He has wide experience in sectors like telecom & FMCG, which have large consumer base and will be beneficial for our organization. Pankaj will focus on roll-out of new businesses in B2C vertical and revenue growth in existing streams and has amply demonstrated his ability in his previous organizations. He is recognized business leader with 20+ years of accomplished experience towards managing large conglomerate business operations with demonstrated record of providing strategic direction, driving revenue and the growth of human capital. This will add huge value to our utility business.

Smart Utilities simultaneously carters to five essential utility services namely power distribution, water distribution, solid waste management, city gas distribution and cable & broadband. The company is managing power distribution franchise in Nagpur (Maharashtra), Sagar (MP) and Muzaffarpur (Bihar) Currently the Company boast to be the largest power distribution franchise in India. Smart Utilities also manages the water distribution franchise in Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Bhagalpur (Bihar) & Tonk (Rajasthan).

Commenting on his decision on joining Essel Utilities Distribution Company Limited, Mr. Thapliyal said, “Globally Utility Companies face the triple challenge of improving environmental performance, keeping consumer’s cost down and maintaining system reliability. We see there is a huge scope of improvement in the existing public utilities in India by investing in the assets and deploying global best practices. The Public Private Partnership (PPP) model is way forward to go in utility business and long term association spanning 25 to 30 years will nurture integrated smarter communities across major cities of India.

Under his leadership the company will be delivering smart value and efficiency by participating public-private partnership projects across India to transform the ageing public utility infrastructure into a state of the art utility empire. He is committed in improving the existing public utilities, by investing in assets and deploying global best practices. He is ensuring that the organization is developing innovative, sustainable and eco-friendly landscapes providing scalable and affordable services for a smarter life. He will be instrumental in instituting internal processes and compliances through cohesive program management & business excellence initiatives for B2C business. He is known for his clear foresight, business acumen and ability to increase productivity, growth and profitability. He is people’s person and uses mantra of transforming people to transform the businesses.

Mr. Thapliyal is an alumni of IIM (Institute of Management) Calcutta and has pursued his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Institute of Management Science and Productivity Research, New Delhi, which is one of the oldest and respected management schools in the country.

About Essel Group

The Essel Group is among India's most prominent business houses with a diverse portfolio of assets in media, packaging, entertainment, technology-enabled services, infrastructure development and education. The Group started business in 1976 with a commodity trading and export firm. Today, Essel Group of Companies is a vast conglomerate of Media, Technology, Entertainment, Packaging, Infrastructure, Education, Healthy Lifestyle & Wellness, Financial Services and Precious Metals with worldwide operations and a workforce of over 10,000 dedicated employees.

About Essel Utilities Distribution Company Limited (EUDCL)

Smart Utilities – the flagship brand of Essel Utilities Distribution Company Ltd India's first and only integrated Utility Companies that simultaneously carters to five essential utility services namely power distribution, water distribution, solid waste management, city gas distribution & cable & broadband. The company aims to achieve top line revenue of Rs. 5000 crores & reach over 5 million consumer households by 2015-16.

Under the flagship brand of Smart Utilities the company is managing power distribution franchise in Sagar & Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh), Muzaffarpur (Bihar) and Nagpur (Maharashtra). Currently we boost to be largest power distribution franchise in India. Smart Utilities also manages the Water distribution franchise in Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Bhagalpur (Bihar) & Tonk (Jaipur). The company has been awarded eight projects in solid waste management in Deonar (Mumbai), Jabalpur (MP), Pallavapuram (Chennai), Surat (Gujarat), Bhubaneswar (Orissa), Amritsar (Punjab) & Bangalore (Karnataka). The company intends to foray into various other verticals such as city gas distribution & cable & broadband in major cities of India. More information about Essel Utilities is available at www.esselutilities.com