Government of India Grants Maharatna Status to GAIL

GAIL (India) Limited, a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and India’s largest natural gas company, was accorded the Maharatna status by the Government of India.

Dr. M. Veerappa Moily, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas felicitated the GAIL team on achieving this recognition. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that GAIL is the third PSU under the Ministry of Petroleum & natural Gas to have been accorded the Maharatna status. It is also the youngest Public Sector Undertaking to be accorded this recognition. He said, “I congratulate GAIL on this achievement. The conferring of Maharatna status is a befitting recognition of GAIL’s effort and performance towards enhancing gas availability and distribution across the entire country. GAIL Company will continue its efforts for ensuring energy security for the country”.

This is the latest in the series of recognitions received by GAIL. In the recent past, GAIL has been recognized as Asia’s no. 1 Gas Utility and the world’s No. 1 Downstream company apart from consistent excellence awards for MoU performance.

Chairman and Managing Director, GAIL Shri B. C. Tripathi said, “The new Maharatna PSU GAIL would continue to work with renewed dedication and vigor for ensuring energy security of the country and spreading the benefits of wealth creation to the society at large.” The Maharatna status will provide greater flexibility in day to day operations of the Company with enhanced powers to accord approvals, to make equity investment to establish financial JVs and wholly owned subsidiaries and undertake mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in India or abroad.

GAIL started in 1984 as a single pipeline project company and has today emerged as an integrated natural gas company with activities spread across the entire value chain – from gas transportation and marketing to processing for Liquid Hydrocarbons and polymers, pioneering CGD in the country, gas sourcing includingsigning a first-of-its-kind R-LNG deal with Cheniere, USA and being the first PSU to buy acreage in Shale Gas in the US. GAIL has also recently commissioned the LNG Terminal at Dabhol as owner’s engineer and is the operator of the terminal.

GAIL (India) Ltd., is India’s principal Natural Gas Company with activities ranging from Gas Transmission and Marketing to Processing (for fractionating LPG, Propane, SBP Solvent and Pentane); transmission of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG); production and marketing of Petrochemicals like HDPE and LLDPE and leasing bandwidth in Telecommunications. The Company has extended its presence in Power, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) re-gasification, City Gas Distribution and Exploration & Production through equity and joint venture participations.

GAIL owns and operates a network of over 9,500 km of Natural Gas high pressure trunk pipeline with a capacity to carry 172 MMSCMD of natural gas across the country.

GAIL, which is the first company in India to own and operate pipelines for LPG transmission, has a 1,900 km LPG pipeline network, 1,300 km of which connects the Western and Northern parts of India while 600 km of network is in the Southern part of the country. The LPG transmission system has a capacity to transport 3.8 MMTPA of LPG.

GAIL owns and operates a gas based integrated petrochemical plant at Pata, Uttar Pradesh with a capacity of producing 400,000 TPA of Ethylene and 446,000 TPA of Polymers i.e. HDPE and LLDPE. Capacity expansion of the plant to 500,000 TPA is under progress, which will be further expanded to 900,000 TPA in the next three years. GAIL is setting up a 280,000 TPA Petrochemical Complex at Lepetkata, Dibrugarh, Assam at an investment of Rs. 8,920 crore, through a Joint Venture Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited. GAIL has also taken equity in OPaL which is setting up a greenfield petrochemical project at Dahej with a capacity of 1.1. MMTPA ethylene.

In a move towards integration along the energy chain and for sourcing supply, GAIL has entered into the area of Exploration & Production. The Company holds a participating interest in 31 oil and gas exploration blocks including 2 blocks in Myanmar.

GAIL has acquired its first shale gas assets in the USA through its wholly owned US subsidiary GAIL Global (USA) Inc. The subsidiary company has acquired a 20% interest in Carrizo’s Eagle Ford Shale acreage position. The Joint Venture has 20,200 gross acres, out of which GAIL subsidiary has 4,040 net acres spread over four counties in Texas.

GAIL has also set up a wholly – owned subsidiary company viz. GAIL Global (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. in Singapore for sourcing LNG, LNG and petrochemicals trading and overseas investments. GAIL has formed a Joint Venture with China Gas Global Energy Holdings Limited. GAIL and China Gas are equal partners in this JV which has been registered in Bermuda. This is the first Joint Venture Company of GAIL abroad. In order to have a long term association with China Gas and also to expand business in the fast downstream Chinese gas sector, the Joint Venture (JV) will pursue opportunities in CNG, City Gas, Pipeline, CBM, LNG and E&P projects. GAIL is pursuing business opportunities in regions such as South / South-East Asia, West Asia, Russia and Central Asian Republics and African continent in the areas of exploration and production, gas transmission, CNG and city gas distribution, LNG and petrochemicals.

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LNG World News Staff, February 04, 2013