India eyes splitting state-held gas utility GAIL by March 2019

One firm will focus on marketing whilst the other one will zero in on pipelines.

The Indian authorities plan to split the state-held natural gas transmission and marketing company Gas Authority of India (GAIL) by March 2019 to create two companies: one focusing on gas marketing operations and the other one on pipelines. With this new policy, the government plans to increase the number of domestic gas consumers and attract the required investment for the expansion of the pipeline network and the construction of new LNG terminals.

GAIL runs a pipeline network that supplies gas from the region of Bombay to the northern part of the country; it is more than 11 000 km long, accounting for 2/3 of the national gas network, and has a total capacity of around 82 bcm/year. The company plans to reach 16 000 km of transmission network for a capacity of 100 bcm/year by 2020.

This article was originally published by Enerdata.