How I Squared backed a founder-led plan to develop city gas infrastructure in India and scale an essential-services business

When Hardip Rai and his partner began developing THINK Gas, they did not have a mature asset to acquire. They had a presentation, a business plan, and a conviction that India’s need for city gas infrastructure could support a scalable operating platform. That distinction shaped their search for capital. Rai and his co-founder were not presenting a conventional buyout opportunity, they were looking for a partner willing to back an experienced management team and a plan to build a city gas distribution platform from the ground up.

The City Gas Opportunity

THINK Gas was established to develop infrastructure that could supply compressed natural gas to vehicles and piped natural gas to households, commercial establishments, and industrial customers. The opportunity was not centered on a single pipeline or filling station. It was based on the ability to build physical networks, operating capabilities, and customer relationships repeatedly across multiple markets.

I Squared understood that the opportunity extended beyond individual assets to the creation of a scalable platform. “Nobody got the idea of the platform until we came to I Squared,” Rai said. For I Squared, the starting point was an experienced management team, a clear sector thesis, and an essential infrastructure need. This reflects the firm’s broader platform approach: backing businesses that can start small, build operating capability, and scale over time.

Building the Platform

THINK Gas began with a team of approximately 10 people. Rai describes the business as subsequently growing into one of India’s largest city gas distribution companies. That growth required more than capital. Scaling a city gas platform involves developing physical infrastructure, navigating regulatory and permitting requirements, entering new markets, acquiring customers, and building the management systems needed to operate reliably over time.

Rai describes the relationship with I Squared as one characterized by alignment and substantive interaction, with both the investor and management team focused on building the business over the long term. The story illustrates an important feature of platform-building. Scale is not created simply by acquiring more assets. It comes from developing an organization capable of deploying capital, operating infrastructure, and serving customers consistently across a growing footprint.

Customer Impact

The scale of an infrastructure platform can be described through employees, pipelines, stations, and geographic coverage. Its purpose becomes clearest, however, through the people and businesses using the service. For one auto-rickshaw driver, converting from diesel to compressed natural gas resulted in monthly savings of approximately 2,000 rupees, providing additional income that he could put toward his daughter’s education.

“My biggest satisfaction came from serving customers,” Rai says. “It’s genuinely changing lives.”

The example is anecdotal and should not be interpreted as representative of every outcome. It does, however, show how infrastructure can influence everyday economic activity. A change in fuel access and operating costs can affect the economics of a small business and, in turn, the choices available to a household.

Long-Term Alignment

The THINK Gas case study demonstrates that infrastructure value creation can begin before a large asset exists. In this instance, the foundation was a management team, a sector thesis, and a plan to meet essential demand through a scalable operating platform. From there, the work depended on execution: developing assets, building the organization, strengthening operations, serving customers, and deploying capital over time.

For I Squared, this is the platform approach in practice. It means identifying the right management team and sector, then helping create the operating capabilities required to turn an infrastructure thesis into a scaled business. The broader lesson is that active ownership is not limited to improving mature assets after acquisition. It can also mean helping build the infrastructure business itself.

DISCLOSURES

Company information and statistics are presented as of September 2024.

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