GAIL (India) Ltd. conducted its 40th Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the fiscal year 2023-24, where Chairman Sandeep Kumar Gupta announced that the company is evaluating the feasibility of establishing a world-scale greenfield ethane cracker plant.
Gupta expressed optimism about the growth prospects for GAIL’s petrochemical business and the company’s aim to strengthen its position as a major player in the Indian petrochemical sector with a broad range of products.
He highlighted that GAIL’s projects, including the 500 KTA PDHPP Project at Usar, the 60 KTA Polypropylene plant at Pata, the 1,250 KTA PTA plant at GMPL, Mangaluru, and the 50 KTA Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) Project at Usar, will enhance and diversify its petrochemical portfolio, promising significant growth in the future. Additionally, GAIL is assessing the feasibility of the new ethane cracker plant.
On the infrastructure front, Gupta noted that GAIL maintains its leadership in the natural gas sector with an existing network of 16,271 km of pipelines. The company is actively laying around 3,400 km of new pipelines as part of its commitment to completing the National Gas Grid (NGG), ensuring nearly 100 percent availability and a steady gas supply nationwide.
To ensure supply security, Gupta mentioned that GAIL has secured two 10-year LNG supply agreements starting in 2026: 1 MMTPA from Vitol Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore, and 0.5 MMTPA from ADNOC Gas, UAE. Additionally, GAIL’s 4.5 MMTPA volume has been renewed under an LNG SPA with Qatar Energy LNG and PLL, with supplies starting in 2028 for 20 years.
Gupta also announced that GAIL has successfully onboarded and chartered the long-term LNG vessel GAIL Urja and has entered into a 14-year Time Charter Party agreement for a newly built LNG carrier, with the charter starting in early 2025. The company’s fleet of five LNG carriers will support the transportation of contracted LNG volumes to India.
Furthermore, Gupta reported that GAIL’s joint venture, Mahanagar Gas Limited, acquired two geographical areas in Maharashtra and one in Karnataka from a private entity, making GAIL and its group companies the largest City Gas Distribution (CGD) operator in India. The GAIL group is now authorized in 72 out of the total 307 geographical areas across the nation. This year, GAIL and its group companies have added 1.106 million PNG connections and 422 CNG stations, totaling approximately 8.34 million PNG customers and 2,770 CNG stations across the country.
Gupta also emphasized that GAIL has advanced its Net Zero target by five years. The Board has approved moving the target from early 2040 to 2035 to achieve a 100 percent reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, along with a revised roadmap to meet this goal.
In its efforts to reduce carbon footprint, GAIL has installed India’s first MW-scale Green Hydrogen electrolyzer in Vijaipur, Madhya Pradesh. The 10 MW electrolyzer has the capacity to produce 4.3 TPD of hydrogen through electrolysis using renewable power.
In FY24, GAIL and its group companies added 1.106 million PNG connections and 422 CNG stations, bringing the total to approximately 8.34 million PNG customers and 2,770 CNG stations.
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