GAIL

GAIL (India) Limited (formerly known as Gas Authority of India Ltd.) is an Indian state-owned energy corporation with primary interests in the trade, transmission production and distribution of natural gas. GAIL also has interests in the exploration and production of solar and wind power, telecom and telemetry services (GAILTEL) and electricity generation. GAIL was founded as the Gas Authority of India Ltd. in August 1984 under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to build, operate and maintain the HVJ Gas Pipeline. On 1 February 2013, the Indian government conferred GAIL with Maharatna status along with 14 other Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).[3][4][5][6]

GAIL owns and operates a network of around 13722 km of natural gas pipelines and is building around 6000 km of pipelines of its own and about 2000 km through two joint ventures, as part of the National Gas Grid. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board has authorised GAIL to build the 1755 km long Mumbai-Nagpur-Jharsuguda gas pipeline. In 2023, GAIL completed the world's first ship-to-ship LNG transfer.[7]

History

The Gas Authority of India Ltd. was incorporated in August 1984 as a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of the Government of India under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP&NG) to build, operate and maintain HVJ gas pipeline. The 1750 km long pipeline was one of the largest natural gas pipeline projects in the world and was built at a cost of inr 17000000000.[8] Construction began in June 1987 and was energised by July 1989.

In November 1988, GAIL received approval to build a inr 3000000000 LPG extraction plant in Vijaipur with a capacity of 400,000 tpa. Phase I of the plant, with a capacity of 200,000 tpa, was commissioned in 1990-91, eight months ahead of schedule. Phase II was commissioned in February 1992.

GAIL entered into a joint venture agreement with British Gas on 6 December 1994 to create Mahanagar Gas Limited to implement the Bombay City Gas Distribution project. GAIL was awarded Navratna status by the Indian government on 1 January 1997, in acknowledgement of its "excellent track record" and "potential to become a global giant" and providing it with greater autonomy. Later in 1997, GAIL began its city gas distribution pilot project in New Delhi by setting up nine compressed natural gas (CNG) stations. In 1998, GAIL entered into a joint venture with the Bharat Petroleum and the

Infrastructure

GAIL owns the prominent Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur cross-country pipeline, spanning 2300 km with a capacity to handle 33.4 million cubic metres per day at standard temperatures and pressures. As of 2022, the company owns and operates more than 11000 km of inter-provincial gas pipelines, having a presence in 22 states within India. It also owns and operates more than 2,000 kilometres of LPG pipelines in the country, spanning Jamnagar in Gujarat to Loni in Uttar Pradesh. The company also owns and operates seven mega LPG recovery plants in the country today and has to its credit almost 20% of domestic LPG produced and supplied for domestic usage through its sister PSUs like IOCL, BPCL and HPCL. GAIL is one of the major petrochemical conglomerates in the country today with India's largest gas-based petrochemicals in operation since 1999. In petrochemicals, it has its own gas-based integrated petrochemical plant and also the ownership of 70% in dual fuel petrochemicals in Assam, Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited and one of the major equity partners in OPal.

The company supplies gas to power plants for the generation of over 4,000 MW of power to Fertilizer plants for the production of 10 million tonnes of urea and several other industries. The regional pipelines are in Mumbai, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Assam, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. The company has established six liquefied petroleum gas processing plants, two at Vijaipur, MP, one at Waghodia, Gujarat, one at Gandhar, Gujarat, one at Auraiya, UP and one each in Lakwa, Assam and Usar, Maharashtra.

Operations

Global presence

As a strategy of going global and further expanding its global footprint, GAIL has formed a wholly owned subsidiary company, GAIL Global (Singapore) Pte Ltd. in Singapore for pursuing overseas business opportunities including LNG & petrochemical trading.[34] GAIL has also established a wholly owned subsidiary, GAIL Global (USA) Inc. in Texas, US.[34] The US subsidiary has acquired a 20% working interest in an unincorporated joint venture with Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc in the Eagle Ford shale acreage in the state of Texas. In addition to having two wholly owned subsidiaries in Singapore and the US, GAIL has a representative office in Cairo, Egypt to pursue business opportunities in Africa and the Middle East.

GAIL is also an equity partner in two retail gas companies in Egypt, namely Fayum Gas Company (FGC) and National Gas Company (Natgas). Besides, GAIL is an equity partner in a retail gas company involved in city gas and CNG business in China – China Gas Holdings Limited (China Gas). Further, GAIL and China Gas have formed an equally owned joint venture company – GAIL China Gas Global Energy Holdings Limited for pursuing gas sector opportunities primarily in China.

GAIL is a part of the consortium in two offshore E&P blocks in Myanmar and also holds participating interest in the joint venture company – South East Asia Gas Pipeline Company Limited incorporated for the transportation of gas to be produced from two blocks in Burma (Myanmar) to China.

Corporate social responsibility

In terms of the guidelines issued by the Department of Public Enterprises, GAIL has allocated an annual budget of 2% of the previous year's profit after tax for CSR activities, which is effectively used for carefully chosen programmes. Socially useful programmes have been undertaken in GAIL since its inception in and around the areas adjoining its major work center's under the SCP/TSP Plan. But over the years, the scope of the CSR activities, the nature of programmes undertaken and the systems adopted for the implementation of these programmes have been streamlined and strengthened and the work under SCP/TSP came under the wider scope of CSR. Today, CSR & sustainability development is accorded high priority in the organisational ethos and attempted to be interwoven in all the business activities and the projects that are being undertaken by the company. During the year 2010–11, the company has taken up programmes of a value of approximately inr 575000000 for implementation under the seven thrust areas, which include Community Development, Infrastructure, Healthcare/Medical, Skill Development/Empowerment, Educational Aids, Environment Protection, Drinking Water/Sanitation.

For the year 2010–11 under the thrust area Community Development, programmes worth inr 157000000 are endorsed and the implementation of these projects is in progress.

GAIL (India) Ltd. extended its support for the reconstruction and renovation of numerous public utilities/buildings which improved living standards not only for a person or family but for the whole of the villages where this project was implemented. For the sustainable development of the whole community, GAIL is also supporting integrated livelihood programmes in villages, especially for small and marginal farmers. This would be considered a drop in the vast ocean but GAIL along with other Oil PSUs is contributing towards the provision of LPG connections to BPL families under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitrak Yojana. This collaborative combined effort of the Oil PSUs would be able to generate a huge wave in the ocean in the UP region. GAIL believes that for providing better tomorrow for the community where it has its working the focus should be on the future of the community i.e. children and students. So given his belief GAIL is providing vehicles for the distribution of a mid-day meal for underprivileged children of government schools to encourage young girls and boys to educate themselves for their better and more secure lives.

Sponsorship

Currently a sponsor of Durand Cup.

See also

• List of public sector undertakings in India

External links