Prof. Latha Ramchand
Dean, and Professor, Finance,
C.T. Bauer College of Business,
University of Houston

Latha Ramchand is Dean at the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. She has previously served as Associate Dean, Programs and Administration and Associate Dean of Graduate and Professional Programs. In the latter role, she oversaw all of Bauer College’s post graduate and professional programs, including faculty and staff who serve the following areas: Master of Business Administration (MBA), Executive MBA Master of Science in Accountancy, Master of Science in Finance, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and a variety of professional programs including Energy Certificate Programs.

She is also a Professor of Finance at the C.T. Bauer College of Business and teaches in the areas of Corporate and International Finance and Risk Management. She received her Ph.D. in finance at Northwestern University where she attended the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. She is a gold medalist in Economics from Bombay University where she graduated with a master’s degree in Economics. Professor Ramchand has taught in the MBA programs at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, the University of Houston and the Indian School of Business.

Ramchand is a noted expert and speaker on several topics, including international and corporate finance, energy education, corporate governance and leadership, global business, energy and the economy, and women in leadership.  Her research interests include international and corporate finance. She has won several awards for her publications including Best Paper Award in International Finance. She is a recipient of the UH Faculty Excellence Proclamation awarded by the Houston City Council (1995). Her publications have appeared in prestigious finance journals and she has presented her work at various national and international conferences. She is a CFA charter holder and is a member of the Houston Society for Financial Analysts.

Prof. Timothy C. Coburn, Ph.D.
Director, Master of Energy Business,
Professor of Energy and Operations Management, 
Collins College of Business, 
The University of Tulsa


Dr. Tim Coburn is Professor of Energy and Operations Management in the Collins College of Business at The University and serves as the director of graduate programs in energy business, specifically, the Master of Energy Business (MEB). Dr. Coburn joined The University of Tulsa in 2011, moving from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, TX, where he held the Mesa Petroleum Professorship in Statistics and Management Science, and served in various administrative and management roles.

Dr. Coburn has a long history of involvement in the energy industry. He previously worked for Phillips Petroleum (Bartlesville, Denver, Seattle), Marathon Oil (Denver, Houston), and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden Colorado). He has experience in both the technical and managerial sides of the energy business, and has worked in a variety of settings, including the exploration, production, and downstream oil and gas sectors, as well as the alternative fuels and renewable energy sector. He has served as an industry consultant for many years, engaged most recently in projects for the US Geological Survey, Halliburton/Landmark Graphics, ConocoPhillips, and the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute at the University of Colorado/Boulder. Dr. Coburn is an active member of SPE, AAPG, SEG, and various other industry professional organizations.

Coburn holds a Ph.D. in statistics, with an industrial engineering focus, from Oklahoma State University.

Dr. Kirit S. Parikh
Chairman, IRADe & Chairman,
Expert Group for Low carbon Strategy for Inclusive Growth,
Planning Commission of India

Dr Kirit S. Parikh has a Doctor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Master's Degree in Economics from MIT, USA. He has been a Professor of Economics since 1967.

Widely recognized as architect of India’s Integrated Energy Policy, he was a Member of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) of five Prime Ministers of India, AtalBehari Vajpayee, P.V. Narasimha Rao, Chandra Shekhar, V.P.Singh and Rajiv Gandhi.

Honoured with Padma Bhushan by the President of India in March 2009,he is also a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, Indiaandhonorary life member of the International Association ofAgricultural Economists(on an average given to two persons a year in the world).

He was honoured as the most distinguished and illustrious alumni of the decade from India by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA in September, 2007. He was conferred the Distinguished Alumnus Award by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur in September, 2007

Dr Parikh has authored, co-authored and edited 29 books in the areas of development planning and policy concerning planning, agricultural development, poverty, energy, environment, water resource management, trade and general equilibrium modeling.

He has also published numerous articles.

Shri D J Pandian, IAS
Additional Chief Secretary, Energy and Petrochemicals Department
Govt. of Gujarat 

Shri D. J. Pandian is a Senior Officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service, having more than 30 years of experience in Public Policy & Administration. Currently he is Additional Chief Secretary to Government of Gujarat in Energy & Petrochemicals Department.
 
During his tenure as MD, GSPC, Mr. Pandian made the presence of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) in the entire Value Chain of Hydro Carbon Sector. He has developed extensive gas grid network for transmission & distribution of natural gas throughout Gujarat. Through his visionary policies & programme implementation skills he has developed City Gas Distribution systems in most of the districts of Gujarat with active public & private participation. He was also instrumental in setting up a modern university (Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University) to provide highly skilled technical manpower to the industries in the Petroleum Sector.

In his current tenure as Additional Chief Secretary, Energy & Petrochemicals Department, Government of Gujarat, he has made Gujarat a Power Surplus State. He is also instrumental in devising Investor Friendly Policy for Renewable Power in Gujarat. As a result, 700 MW of Solar Power and 500 MW of Wind Power have been successfully installed in last one year. He has successfully set up Asia’s largest Solar Park in the remote Kutch Region of Gujarat. Also he is the Executive Chairman of GSPC LNG Ltd., which is setting up a State of Art LNG import facility in Mundra port.

Earlier Mr. Pandian worked as Director, External Commercial Borrowings with Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi. He also worked with the World Bank in Washington DC for 4 years from 1998 to 2001.

Dr. Anurag K. Agarwal
Professor, Indian Institute of Management
Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Teaching and research interests include business dispute resolution, primarily arbitration; corporate governance; business, leadership and law; intellectual property; law, strategy and business; and the relationship between business, government and law. Has authored the book – Business and Intellectual Property: Protect Your Ideas (Random House, 2010). He writes a weekly column “Lawfully Yours” for the DNA Money, Ahmedabad.

A Mechanical Engineer from MNREC, Allahabad (now known as MNNIT), he worked with Bharat Petroleum for less than a year, before deciding to study law. Completed Bachelor, Master and Doctor of Laws from the Lucknow University and a second Master of Laws from the Harvard Law School. Practised as an Advocate at Lucknow for about seven years and for about a year and a half at Delhi. Switched over to full-time teaching in 2004, with a brief stint at MDI Gurgaon. Has been a visiting faculty at ESSEC, Paris.

Has been the Chairperson of the Post Graduate Programmme in Public Management and Policy (PGP-PMP) at IIMA (2009-11), and the Business Policy Area (2011-13).

Recipient of the first Marti Mannariah Gurunath Outstanding Teacher Award for the batch of 2011-2013, instituted by Prof. Marti G. Subrahmanyam, Stern School, NYU (PGP 1969, IIMA) in the memory of his father.

Currently Chairperson of the One Year Post-Graduate Programme in Management for Executives (PGPX).

Shri B.S. Negi

Shri B.S. Negi is post Graduate in Mechanical Engineering with Honours and has 44 years of professional experience, spreading from Oil Refining, Fertilizer Industry, Gas Industry, Regulatory Affairs and Academic.

Shri Negi has held the position of director in many companies such as Gail (India), Mahanagar Gas, Petronet LNG, Ratnagiri Gas & Power, Fayum Gas Egypt, Shell CNG Egypt etc.

Shri Negi has the privilege to be a member of Indian teams to negotiate Iran- India Pipeline, Turkmenistan- Afghanistan- Pakistan- India Pipeline, Myanmar-India Pipeline and LNG sourcing for India.

After superannuating from Gail India in 2006, Shri Negi was appointed by the Government of India as a member of the first Oil & Gas Sector Regulatory Board where he served for 5 years term.

Shri Negi has presented several papers in national and international conferences and has authored four books “LNG an Indian scenario” , “LNG an emerging global trade”, “Pipeline is Lifeline” and “City Gas India”

Dr. T. Harinarayana
Director 
GERMI-RIIC, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India

Dr. T. Harinarayana is the Director of the Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute, Research Innovation and Incubation Centre, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. He holds two doctoral degrees in the field of Electromagnetics-one from Edinburgh University, UK & the other from Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad. He served earlier as Dy. Director at the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad for more than three decades. He is a leading Scientist, well recognized for his excellence in deep EM Technique- Magnetotellurics. He also holds the position of an Independent Director, Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Limited, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Dr. T. Harinarayana is a member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Moscow. He has received the National Mineral Award-1991, the Andhra Pradesh Scientist Award-2008. While serving as Scientist-‘G’ and Head Magnetotelluric Division, NGRI, Hyderabad he became a fellow and a member of numerous national (IGU, AEG, APAS etc.) and international (IAGA, EMSEV etc.) scientific societies, academic forums and editorial boards of various techno-scientific journals of global importance.

His academic and research excellence created opportunities for him to serve as a visiting professor and scientist at the University of Tokyo, Japan and the University of Texas, USA respectively. He has also organized and chaired a large number of conference / seminars and technical sessions.

Shri Vasant Agarwal
Managing Director
ECOMAX

Vasant Agarwal, Managing Director, ECOMAX, has been in the energy conservation business for almost 35 years. He holds a Masters Degree in Systems Engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles  (UCLA),  and a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering. After spending almost a decade with Ernst & Young as a Senior Management Consultant in their Environmental practice, he established the most modern solar manufacturing company in Los Angeles in 1980. Since then, he has been involved in all aspects of renewable energy, energy conservation, wind energy, and of course, solar. He has returned permanently to India to work with public and private enterprises to share his knowledge and experience in order to help the needy and under served people of his country.

Shri Augustine Peter
Director General
Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas,
New Delhi

Augustine Peter, presently Director General in the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, belongs to the Indian Economic Service (IES-1982).

He studied Economics at the Kerala University as well as at the Bradford University, UK.

He started his career in the banking sector working in the State Bank of India,in 1980.

Mr. Peter joined the Indian Economic Service (IES) in 1982 and worked in the Department of Company Affairs (1984-87), India Investment Centre (1987-89), UNIDO, IPS Paris (1989-1993), Department of Economic Affairs (1993-94 and 2005-06), Planning Commissionof India (Director / Dy.Adviser during 1994-98),Ministry of Commerce (Director,Trade Policy/WTO, during 1998-2005; Economic Adviser, during 2010-11) and the Competition Commission of India, DG and Economic Adviser(2006-2009).

He served as Indian delegate at the United Nations Industrial DevelopmentOrganization (UNIDO), in its Investment Promotion Service (IPS) Office in Parisduring 1989-93.

Mr. Peter served as Resource Person in the Harvard University Programme on ‘ProjectAppraisal and Management’.

He has a number of publications in the areas of Competition Law and Policy, Competitiveness and also on macro and micro economic issues.

The areas of his specialization are: Infrastructure, Energy,Trade, Investment and Competition Policy and Law.

Shri Vineet Mittal
Managing Director,
Welspun Energy Ltd
& President of Solar Power Developers Association (SPDA)

A serial entrepreneur, Vineet is known for visionary leadership and execution abilities. His strengths lie in envisioning and implementing large-sized complex projects and building up global organizations. Vineet’s strong emphasis on generating sustainable clean energy has led to Welspun Energy’s success. He strongly advocates inclusive growth focusing on organizational diversity promoting cross-pollination of ideas to foster development.

Alumnus of Harvard Business School, Vineet is significant contributor in developing strategies and policies for emerging economies.  As industry advisor to two of largest Indian states he has been crusading for balanced sustainable growth. Vineet is on B20’s Green Growth Action Alliance & World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Steering Committee on Infrastructure and Urban Development. He also holds the position of the Founder President of Solar Power Developers Association (SPDA).

He was felicitated as ‘The EQ Solar Man of the Year 2012’ and “Entrepreneur of the Year” at Madhavrao Scindia Leadership Awards 2009. Recently, he has been recognized with the ‘GLOBAL EXCELLENCE AWARD in RENEWABLE ENERGY 2013’ at the 4th World Renewable Energy Technology Congress (WRETC).

He has been invited as expert in forum series -  Danish Embassy’s ‘Green Growth Action Alliance’ in Copenhagen, WEF’s sessions in Davos, India & Myanmar on innovation – low carbon finance – growth through sustainable energy ; presented white papers on sustainable energy, incentivizing efforts of forestation and public-private-participation for rural community development.

Shri Rajsekhar Budhavarapu
Chief Technology Officer - Renewable Investments
IL&FS Energy Development Company Ltd (IEDCL)

Mr Rajsekhar Budhavarapu has nearly 20 years of (renewable energy) experience providing policy, development, technical, operational and strategic leadership - mainly across Wind, Solar and Renewable Hybrid systems, working in various capacities across research institutions, wind turbine manufacturers, consultancy firms, and IPP developers across India, Europe, South-East Asia and Africa. He is also an Aspen Institute (Catto) fellow- as one of the 20 emerging leaders in the realm of energy-climate change between 2007-09.

Prior to that Mr. Rajsekhar was with GL Garrad Hassan (as the Country Manager), Acciona Energy India (as Director Development), Enercon (Overseeing Wind IPP in Africa and SE Asia), ECN-the Netherlands Energy Research Institute (as Engineer Scientist), NEG-Micon India (overseeing Wind & Technical Services) and TERI (as a Research Associate in the Renewable Energy Technology Applications).

Mr Rajsekhar holds a B.Tech in Aerospace Engineering from IIT Madras and a Masters in International Finance from the Amsterdam Graduate Business School, University of Amsterdam (Netherlands).

Shri Shaleen Sharma
President and Managing Director
BG India

Shaleen Sharma is the President and Managing Director, BG India. Shaleen is responsible for managing the India operations of BG Group since July 2012.

Prior to taking over as head of BG India, Shaleen was the Managing Director of Gujarat Gas Company Limited (GGCL) for five years. GGCL was then a subsidiary of BG Group plc and was India’s largest private sector gas distribution company in terms of sales volume.

Shaleen joined BG in 2000 and has been associated with a number of important assignments in BG India’s core businesses, including Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) marketing, the Panna-Mukta and Tapti (PMT) Joint Venture (as BG’s representative on the Joint Venture’s Operator Board), direct marketing of PMT gas, and head of the Commercial function at GGCL before taking over as Managing Director.

Prior to his current association with BG India, Shaleen has worked with ONGC, GAIL and Petronet LNG covering many important business areas including finalisation and execution of the India’s first long term LNG Sale and Purchase Agreement with RasGas, Qatar.

Shaleen has been actively associated with the CII as Head of the Energy Panel of CII-Gujarat from 2009-2011and is a member of CII’s National Committee of Hydrocarbon since2012.

Shaleen, a B.Sc and a MBA (Lucknow), has 33 years of work experience, predominantly in the natural gas sector with major oil,  gas and LNG companies operating in India.

Dr. Omkar Jani
Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute


Dr. Omkar Jani is currently the Principal Research Scientist (Solar Energy) at the Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI).  His primary goals include advisory for various solar-related government initiatives, policy and regulation; undertaking or supporting pilot programmes in renewable energy for renewable energy for the Government of Gujarat; developing and undertaking fundamental and applied research; and capacity building at both professional and vocational levels.  Dr. Jani is the main architect of the 5 MW Gandhinagar Photovoltaic Rooftop Programme, and responsible of setting up solar technician programmes in several ITIs of Gujarat; both these initiatives are the first of its kind in India.

Dr. Jani is a member of the State Advisory Committee of the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission.  He is also an advisor to several clean energy-related companies and NGOs.  Prior to his work with GERMI, Dr. Jani founded and headed the Kanoda group of companies, which is comprehensive solution provider in the field of solar and smart technologies.

Dr. Jani received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology with specialization in Solar Photovoltaic Science and Engineering; and his post-doctoral fellowship from the Institute of Energy Conversion, Delaware.  During his research, Dr. Jani has worked on programmes funded by U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Solar America Initiative (SAI), and also on collaborative projects with solar photovoltaic companies such as BP Solar and SunPower Corp.  Dr. Jani has over 50 national and international journal and conference publications.

Shri Arun Kumar, GM (Geophysics-s)
Head, Center of Delivery for Shale Gas
ONGC, Baroda

Did his M.Tech in Applied Geophysics from IIT, Roorkee in 1980

Joined ONGC in 1982 as graduate trainee at Baroda.

Has vast experience in onland seismic data acquisition.

Developed expertise G&G data interpretation, deep water systems, petroleum system analysis and exploration portfolio management.

Has worked in Western Onshore basin, A&AA basin and E&D Directorate

Presently, heading Center of Delivery for shale gas at Baroda. The center planning and executing number of pilot projects for development of shale gas play in number of Indian basins for ONGC.

Dr. Marcelo Gabriel

Marcelo Gabriel is a professor of Green Marketing and Research Methods in the Graduate Program of Environmental Management and Sustainability at Universidade Nove de Julho - UNINOVE in São Paulo, Brazil. He is a PhD from Campinas State University and his research interests are in the fields of sustainable production and consumption and its interfaces with Marketing Mix and consumer behavior, especially on decision process of individuals and organizations. He is a mixed methods researcher and is currently working on scales development on sustainable/responsible/ethical consumption with focus on pre and post consumption attitudes and environmental perception amongst SME’s owners.

His works appeared in international conferences and Brazilian journals. He serves on the editorial review board of Journal of Marketing Analytics and several Brazilian journals. Before become a full-time scholar, Prof. Gabriel was involved in the industry as top executive of Sales and Marketing on multinational companies with responsibility over South America. 

Prof. Shailendra Kumar Pokhriyal
shailendra.pokhriyal@gmail.com
University Of Petroleum & Energy Studies
Dehradun, India

Over 28 years of total experience out of which 21 years in various industries. ( over 7 years in Teaching and R&D , 3 years basic and fundamental research & development , 5 years in quality control, 4 years as plant manager , 8 years in sales, marketing and projects in transnational companies)

Presently working with University Of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun, India (Position : Senior Associate Professor ) ( August 2006 – Till date)

Industrial Projects Under Taken :
(a) “Shelf Life Of Drilling Fluids” Project from Oil & Natural Gas Commission.
(b) “Testing of Contamination in Gasoline” Project from Maruti Udyog.
(c) “ Developing Catalysts for Isomerization & Dimerization of light Alkanes” Project From Indian Oil Corporation Limited.

Professional memberships
• Society of Petroleum E ngineers
• Energy Institute ,London, UK (Membership no. : 34477)
• Life member of “Swadeshi Science Movement Of India”,(CSIR) New Delhi (Life Member)

Shri Divyesh Desai
Regional Marketing Manager
Hazira LNG ,Shell

B.E. (Electrical) , MBA ( Fianace)

Professional Experience:
1. Work experience : 17 years
2. Working with Shell since 2006.
3. Prior to joining Shell ,Worked with British gas and its associates
4. Worked in various functions e.g. Business development, Strategy & planning , Commercial , Finance & Economics, Regulatory affairs etc
5. Current work profile : developing long term LNG markets , Contract negotiations ,Managing regulatory interface & lobbying with government on key policy issues related to energy

Other/Achievements: Around 100 words
1. Active member of Energy panel of CII
2. Actively involved with Ahemdabad Management Association
3. Visiting Faculty to AMA ,PDPU ,Nirma institute of Management , IIM Ahemdabad etc.

Mr. Jai Gopal Chaturvedi
Executive Director – Asset Manager
ONGC Ahmedabad Asset

2009-2013
Executive Director – Chief New & Marginal Fields

2007-2008
Executive Director -Asset Manager, Assam

2006-2007
Brown Field Management

Overseas Assignments

Professional Memberships
Society/ Institution
Geological Society of India (GSI), India
Indian Association of Remote Sensing
Society of Petroleum Geophysicists (SPG)
Association of Petroleum Geologist
National Institute of Personnel Management, India