Khara wants to make Confidence Petroleum a Rs 10,000 cr group

The long wait for over 36 hours in the serpentine queue in 1980 for new LPG connection did not frustrate this young man. On the contrary, he was very calm and composed standing in the queue. While the situation was irritating many others in the queue, this young man was giving shape to his ideas that changed his life and also offered job opportunities to 4,500 persons in the following years. This is the story of Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Confidence Petroleum Nitin Khara.

Confidence Petroleum is a Nagpur-based company which is a BSE and NDSE listed entity employing 4,500 persons. The company is spread across the length and breadth of the country. The company has a market cap of Rs 1,139 crore. However Khara, who has in his DNA to the limits, has been working to make the group a Rs 10,000 crore group in near future. The company is aggressively expanding its base and setting up Auto LPG Dispensing Stations across the country. It has already set up 205 stations and Khara has plans to take the number of station to 500 by 2021. It is providing auto fuel to three wheelers and four wheelers under the brand name ‘GoGas’.

In an exclusive interview with The Hitavada on Saturday, Khara shared his journey of becoming a successful entrepreneur. “Those were the days when one had to wait for five to six years to LPG connection. And whenever the authorities would open registration process for the connection, people used to throng the offices of gas agencies. While standing in the long queue on that day in my native place in Akola, I could sensed the opportunities the sector offers. And I decided that I would start business in this field,” said Khara. A son of traders, Khara lost his father at an early age of 21. He then joined his uncle’s business who was also a trader. But the desire to make it big life, made Khara shift his base from Akola to Nagpur in early eighties. In Nagpur, Khara began his career as a trader of gar stoves. His hard work, dedication and determination gave him success in the trading business.

Very soon he though of taking a big leap, from a traders to becoming a manufacturer. He planned to became a manufacturers of the LPG gas cylinder. “We bought a sick unit of LPG gas cylinder manufacturing located in Kalmeshwar. And we started supplying cylinders to oil marketing companies. It was a very challenging job as even a small leakage in the cylinders could ruin our reputation and business. But we succeeded in it and gained confidence of our clients,” he said remembering the days of struggle. The journey was full of challenges but it did not deter Khara. “I travelled so extensively in those days that I would spent three to four days nights in a week in trains, many times without getting reserved seat,” he said highlighting that one should not look behind come what may.

Even today, Khara is a very punctual man who get up very early and follows the set time table every. When the Union Government liberalised the economy and opened up LPG sector for private players, Khara’s group took advantage of it set up bottling plants at many strategic locations. Over a period of time, it also started offering bottling services to state-owned oil marketing companies. Today, the company is a leading LPG cylinder manufacturer with 15 LPG Cylinder manufacturing units across the nation. It supplies cylinder to Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Reliance Industries Limited. Besides, the company is also enjoys export business of its LPG cylinders. It is important to note that tyhe company is contributing a lot in saving environment by reducing vehicular pollution by promoting of green fuel.