GAIL To Invest INR 6000 Cr In Renewable Energy

Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) announced to invest INR 6,000 Cr in the upcoming three years in the renewable segment. GAIL commands over 70 percent of market share in gas transmission and over 50 percent share in Gas trading in India.

In the same line, GAIL India Chairman and Managing Director, Manoj Jain said that the company is planning to add 20,000 Cr more in this amount making this an investment of 26,000 Cr by 2030.

The Chairman also said they are looking at almost 3 Gigawatts (One Billion Watts in a Gigawatt) of renewable capacity by 2030, which will include 1 GW to start within the next three years. 

Rakesh Kumar Jain, Director Finance, GAIL India, mentioned that the company reported a 112 per cent jump in 2021-22 and post-tax net profit was INR 10,364 Cr. Adding to this, he said the company has outlined an overall capital expenditure plan of up to INR 40,000 Cr in the next five years, which will cover a wide array of areas.

This will require the company to borrow up to an amount of INR 20,000 Cr, while the rest will come from internal sources. The company is undertaking a liquid hydrogen capacity addition right now and the progress done on the prototype will influence its overall investments.

The company is on the lookout for the electrolyser to make a 10 MegaWatt facility for liquid hydrogen, expected to be the largest plant of its kind in the country.

In 2021-22, the GAIL invested INR 7,700 Cr across all activities, which included pipelines for the core transmission business and petrochemicals.

Meanwhile, the chairperson said that GAIL is awaiting to get a nod from the Government on its asset monetisation proposals and added that it expects to monetise up to INR 4,000 Cr of assets in 2022-23. 

GAIL is India’s leading natural gas company incorporated in August 1984 as a Central Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.  

It owns and operates a network of around 13,340 km of natural gas pipelines spread across the length and breadth of the country. It is also working concurrently on execution of multiple pipeline projects to enhance the spread. GAIL commands 70 percent market share in gas transmission and has a Gas trading share of over 50 percent in India.

The company was initially given the responsibility of construction, operation, and maintenance of the Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur (HVJ) pipeline Project. It was one of the largest cross-country natural gas pipeline projects in the world. Originally, this 1800 Km long pipeline was built at a cost of Rs 1700 Cr and it laid the foundation for development of the market for natural Gas in India.