New Delhi, July 25 (IANS): The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group said on Saturday that former chief executive of Petronet LNG Ashok Kumar Balyan has joined the company here as chief executive of its oil and gas business.

"Among other areas, Balyan shall be leading the group's efforts towards setting up of a liquefied natural gas terminal and LNG procurement for the Bangladesh power project being implemented by Reliance Power as well as other opportunities in the oil and gas space," the company said in a press statement.

"Balyan brings along with him rich experience of over four decades in strategic planning, operations management, business development and human resources in oil and gas sector," the statement said.

Before serving five years as managing director and CEO with state-run Petronet, Balyan was with state-owned explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp for nearly three decades.

Mumbai-headquartered Reliance Power has recently announced the setting up of a 3,000 MW LNG based power plant and a LNG terminal in Bangladesh at a total investment of around Rs.18,000 crore.