Everest Kanto Cylinder is a clean-energy containment company - it makes the high-pressure steel vessels that safely hold compressed natural gas, industrial gases, medical oxygen, and hydrogen, so vehicles can run, factories can operate, and hospitals can breathe. Founded in 1978 by the late P.K. Khurana and still family-run, it built India’s first high-pressure seamless cylinder capability and has held roughly half the domestic market ever since. The recurring approach is to own the full manufacturing chain for a product that is too regulated, too safety-critical, and too logistically awkward for customers to treat as a simple commodity - then deepen that moat by moving into adjacent geographies and higher-value applications, each time using the cash flows and customer relationships of the existing base. # Business segments A single engine - high-pressure gas containment - expressed through one core steel-cylinder business and two smaller, complementary bets on composite materials and international manufacturing, all feeding the same customer need for safe, certified pressure vessels. ## 1. High-pressure seamless steel cylinders: the cash cow that runs on India’s CNG build-out **EKC is India’s largest manufacturer of seamless steel gas cylinders, supplying roughly half the domestic market from fungible production lines that can switch between CNG, industrial, medical and jumbo cylinders as demand shifts.** - **First-mover with regulatory moat** - it pioneered high-pressure seamless cylinders in India and has held the #1 position since 1978; every cylinder design must be approved by the Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organization (PESO) and the Chief Controller of Explosives, and imports face the same hurdle, so new competitors cannot easily enter. - **Fungible capacity across over 200 SKUs** - its Indian plants at Tarapur (300,000 units/year) and Kandla (1.1 million units/year) can shift production between CNG, industrial, medical and jumbo cylinders on the same lines, letting the company follow whichever end-market is strongest. - **Sells to the CNG ecosystem, not just vehicle makers** - revenue comes from selling cylinders per unit to auto OEMs like Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto for factory-fitment on new CNG cars and commercial vehicles, to city gas distributors like Mahanagar Gas and Indraprastha Gas for storage cascades, and to industrial gas companies like BOC India and Praxair. - **CNG station expansion is the demand engine** - India is expected to grow from 3,101 CNG stations in fiscal 2021 to more than 11,000 by 2030, and the number of CNG vehicles on the road rose from about 2.5 million to about 3.5 million units between fiscals 2015 and 2020, so every new pump and every new CNG model needs cylinders. ## 2. Type 3 and Type 4 composite cylinders: the lightweight bet for a different job **Composite cylinders - made from aluminium alloys wrapped in fibre - serve long-distance gas transport and specialty applications where weight matters more than cost, and EKC makes them in small volumes as a complement, not a replacement, to steel.** - **Steel still dominates** - steel cylinders account for 95-98% of CNG cylinders sold globally and in India, so composites address a niche: long-distance gas transportation and applications like breathing apparatus and fire extinguishers where every kilogram counts. - **Type 4 is a US story for now** - the Pittsburgh plant has capacity for 10,000 Type 4 composite cylinders a year, made to ISO 11119-3 and US DOT standards, and the subsidiary has approved $5.5 million in capex to expand into larger diameters backed by customer contracts. - **Type 3 is a small Indian experiment** - EKC manufactures Type 3 composite cylinders in India, but the company describes it as a new and small market, and it is not currently pursuing Type 4 for the Indian market. ## 3. International manufacturing: three plants that extend the same playbook abroad **EKC runs wholly owned factories in Dubai and the US, plus a nearly-complete joint-venture plant in Egypt, each replicating the Indian model of local production for local customers who need certified cylinders without the cost and delay of ocean freight.** - **Dubai serves emerging markets and backs up India** - two plants in the Jebel Ali Free Zone with combined capacity of 240,000 units a year supply the Middle East, South America and Europe, and the facility holds PESO approval so it can also export into India when domestic demand spikes, reducing group-level inventory cost. - **US operation is project-driven and high-value** - CP Industries in Pittsburgh makes large seamless pressure vessels and jumbo tubes (4,000 units/year capacity) for US government shipboard systems, oil and gas exploration, and foreign military customers, carrying a $75 million order book that executes over roughly two years. - **Egypt is the next CNG frontier** - the Egypt JV (97% owned) was expected to begin production by May 2026, targeting fleet owners rather than OEMs so customer approvals are already in place, with first-year revenue projected at Rs. 50-60 crores. # Group structure and partners **EKC controls its international operations through a chain of wholly owned subsidiaries, with the Dubai entity - EKC International FZE - acting as the holding company for the US, Egypt and European trading arms.** - The parent company directly owns EKC International FZE (Dubai), Next Gen Cylinder Private Limited (India), and Calcutta Compressions and Liquefactions Engineering Ltd (India, a natural gas distribution business) - all 100% held. - EKC International FZE in turn wholly owns EKC General Trading FZE (Dubai, incorporated February 2025), EKC Hungary Kft., and EKC Europe GmbH (Germany), and holds 97% of the Egypt JV. - The European trading subsidiary, EKC Europe GmbH in Germany, develops markets for cylinders made in India and Dubai, procures products from the US plant, and provided in-house expertise for composite cylinder development. - The Hungary manufacturing JV (80% held) was abandoned in July 2025 due to the geopolitical situation, with EKC selling its stake back to its local partner for EUR 96,000 and exiting the venture.