GAIL's natural gas transmission segment under its natural gas business vertical consists of its natural gas pipeline infrastructure. As of 31 December 2021, GAIL owns approximately 13,800 km (8,575 mi) of the operational natural gas pipeline network, which represents over 67% of India's overall 20,334 km (12,635 mi) of the operational natural gas pipeline network.
In September 2021, GAIL was reported to be exploring the monetization of its Dabhol-Bengaluru and Dahej-Uran-Panvel-Dhabhol pipelines through an Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) structure with the stated intent to utilize the resulting proceeds to expand its pipeline network.
The following table summarizes GAIL's natural gas pipeline network as of 31 December 2021:
Since its inception in 1984, GAIL has been the undisputed leader in the marketing, transmission and distribution of natural gas in India. As India's leading natural gas major, it has been instrumental in the development of the natural gas market in the country.
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GAIL sells around 51% (excluding internal usage) of the natural gas sold in the country. Of this, 37% is sold to the power sector and 26% to the fertilizer sector. GAIL is supplying around 60 million cubic metres per day at standard conditions of natural gas from domestic sources to customers across India. These customers range from the smallest of companies to mega power and fertilizer plants. GAIL has adopted a gas management system to handle multiple sources of supply and delivery of gas in a co-mingled form and provide a seamless interface between shippers, customers, transporters and suppliers. GAIL is present in 21 states which are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal and 3 union territories which are Dehli, Dadra Nagar Haveli and Puducherry. They are further extending their coverage to the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
LNG
Under its natural gas business vertical, GAIL secures liquefied natural gas (LNG) under long-term agreements as well as short-term arrangements in the spot market.
GAIL has entered into the following long-term LNG supply arrangements:
In December 2011, GAIL signed a 20-year, 3.5 million tons per annum (mtpa) LNG supply agreement with Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC, a subsidiary of Cheniere Energy Partners LP (NYSE:CQP), for delivery of LNG commencing upon the start of operations of the fourth train of its liquefaction terminal based in Sabine Pass, Louisiana.
In October 2012, GAIL signed a 20-year, 2.5 mtpa LNG supply agreement with Gazprom Marketing & Trading Singapore, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gazprom Marketing & Trading, for delivery of LNG beginning in 2018–2019.
In April 2013, GAIL signed a 20-year, 2.3 mtpa LNG supply agreement with Dominion Energy Inc. (NYSE:D) for delivery of LNG commencing upon the start of operations of its Dominion Cove Point LNG liquefaction terminal beginning in 2017.
Additionally, GAIL has entered into the following short- to medium-term LNG supply agreements:
In October 2010, GAIL signed a 3-year, 0.5 mtpa LNG supply agreement with Marubeni for delivery of LNG commencing in January 2011.
In August 2012, GAIL signed a 0.8 million ton LNG supply agreement with GDF Suez for delivery of 12 LNG cargoes from 2013 to 2014.
In August 2012, GAIL signed a 0.725 million ton LNG supply agreement with Gas Natural Fenosa for delivery of LNG for 3 years commencing in January 2013.
Through its wholly owned subsidiary GAIL Global Singapore Pte Ltd (GGSPL), GAIL engages in the trading of LNG; GGSPL has master sale and purchase agreements (MSPAs) with more than 35 third parties.
In addition, GAIL is a 12.50% equity owner of Petronet LNG Limited (PLL), which has entered into the following LNG supply agreements:
In 1999, PLL signed a 7.5 mtpa sales and purchase agreement with Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. Limited (II) (Qatargas); the delivery of the first 5.0 mtpa (phase 1) began in January 2004. Following the execution of a sider letter agreement in August 2006, the delivery of the remaining 2.5 mtpa began in 2009.
In August 2009, PLL signed a 20-year, 1.5 mtpa LNG supply agreement with a subsidiary of ExxonMobil for delivery of LNG from the Gorgon LNG project in Western Australia.
In January 2016, PLL signed another 1.0 mtpa sales and purchase agreement with Qatargas, bringing its total contracted capacity to 8.5 mtpa.
Liquid hydrocarbons
GAIL has marketing gas processing unit (GPUs) products, namely liquefied petroleum gas, propane, pentane, naphtha and by-products of polymer plant, namely MFO, propylene and hydrogenated C4 mix. LPG is being sold exclusively to PSU oil marketing companies (OMCs) while other products are sold directly to customers in the retail segment.
GAIL is India's major producer of propane, popularly known as GAIL Propane. It is an eco-friendly fuel and provides an effective way of reducing pollution and increasing productivity.
GAIL produces and markets pentane. It is primarily being used for reprocessing into iso, normal and commercial pentane used in EPS, PU, and LAB industries.
Acetone and phenol are produced from propylene by blending with benzene, which is mainly used in the pharmaceutical industry.
MFO is mainly used as fuel for heating, paint spraying, and furniture polishing. Naphtha is primarily used by power, Fertilizer, steel and Petrochemical units. In power, steel units, it is used as a fuel, whereas in petrochemical, chemical, and fertilizer units,s it is used as a feedstock.
GAIL is operating seven gas processing units (GPU) located at Vijaipur (two units), Auraiya, Vaghodia, Usar, Lakwa and Gandhar plants for the production of LPG and GCU at Pata plant for the production of polymer. In the process of production of main products, such as LPG and polymer through GPU/GCU except for the Usar, the following by-products- liquid hydrocarbons (LHC) are produced:
LPG production and transmission
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is the most widely used domestic and commercial fuel in India. Over the past four years, GAIL has emerged as one of the major LPG producers in the country. Around 90 per cent of the LPG is consumed in India as fuel by the household sector, while the balance is sold to industrial and commercial customers. GAIL has seven LPG Plants, two at Vijaipur and one at Waghodia, and one each in Lakwa (Assam), Auraiya (UP), Gandhar (Gujarat) and Usar (Maharashtra), producing over 1 million TPA LPG and other liquid hydrocarbons.
GAIL is the first company in India to own and operate pipelines for LPG transmission. It has a 2,038 km (1,266 mi) LPG pipeline network. 1,415 km (879 mi) of which connects the western and northern parts of India and 623 km (387 mi) of the network is in the southern part of the country connecting to the Eastern Coast. The LPG transmission system can transport 3.8 million tonnes per year of LPG. LPG transmission through pipelines was 3145 TMT in the year 2013–14.
GAIL has a share of about 10% of the Indian LPG market in LPG production and 7% in LPG sales.
GAIL produces LPG through fractionation in gas processing units, known as straight-run LPG. GAIL's LPG is an eco-friendly fuel and provides a cheaper and more effective means of reducing pollution and increasing productivity.
GAIL LPG is being supplied to PSU Oil Marketing Companies namely IOCL, BPCL and HPCL ex-GPUs at Import Parity Price.
Petrochemicals
GAIL diversified from gas marketing and transmission into the polymer business by setting up North India's first gas-based Petrochemicals complex. Even without having any prior experience in petrochemicals, GAIL commissioned the plant successfully in the year 1999. The petrochemical business is one of the core focus areas of GAIL.
GAIL owns and operates a gas-based Petrochemical Complex at PATA, District Auraiya, near Kanpur in UP (around 380 km (236 mi) from Delhi). GAIL has a world-class "Sclairtech" solution polymerization process licensed from M/s Nova Chemicals, Canada to produce LLDPE and HDPE, with a nameplate capacity of 210,000 million tonnes per year and has two slurry-based polymerization processes licensed from M/s Mitsui Chemicals, Japan to produce HDPE, each with a nameplate capacity of 100,000 million tonnes per year. A new world-class gas phase Unipol PE Process of M/s Univation Technology, USA, with a nameplate capacity of 400,000 million tonnes per year, has been commissioned at PATA to produce HDPE/LLDPE.
GAIL Pata is the only HDPE/LLDPE plant operating in Northern India and has a dominant market share in North India. The primary thrust markets for the polymers had been Western India, but, with the entry of GAIL in the HDPE & LLDPE market Verticals, today North India has also witnessed rapid and significant growth in the polymer downstream processing Verticals. In a successful span of about decades of establishing and marketing its grades under the brand names G-Lex and G-Lene, GAIL has augmented its nameplate capacity of HDPE and LLDPE to 410,000 MTPA by adding another dedicated HDPE downstream polymerisation unit of 100,000 MTPA.
GAIL has 70% equity in joint venture company Brahmaputra Cracker & Polymer Limited (BCPL) in Dibrugarh, Assam with a nameplate capacity of 220 KTA of HDPE & LLDPE and 60 KTA of PP. GAIL has acquired equity in OPaL's Greenfield petrochemical project at Dahej to produce 1060 KTA of HDPE & LLDPE and 340 KTA of PP.
GAIL is a co-promoter with a 17% equity stake in ONGC Petro-additions Limited (OPaL) which is implementing a green field petrochemical complex of 1.1 million tonnes per year ethylene capacity at Dahej in the state of Gujarat.
The current per capita consumption of plastics in India is about 1.8 kg compared with the world average of 17 kg. Demand and supply projections indicate a progressively increasing domestic offtake. Being the only plant outside western India, it offers easy access to polymer consumers in Northern India and parts of Central India.
City gas distribution
GAIL is the pioneer of city gas distribution in India. GAIL took many initiatives to introduce PNG for households and CNG for the transport sector to address the rising pollution levels. Pilot projects were launched in the early 1990s in two metros Delhi and Mumbai through joint venture companies Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) and Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) leading to the start of commercial operation of city gas projects. The results of these ventures are quite visible through the improvement in air quality in these cities.
Based on the success of IGL and MGL, GAIL has further set up six more JVCs viz Bhagyanagar Gas Limited in Andhra Pradesh; Avantika Gas Limited in Madhya Pradesh; Central U P Gas Limited & Green Gas Limited in Uttar Pradesh; Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited in Pune, Maharashtra and Tripura Natural Gas Company Limited in Tripura; Bengal Gas Company Limited in West Bengal for CGD projects in various cities.
However, the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas established the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) with effect from 01.10.2007, under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act 2006, to regulate the refining, processing, storage, transportation, distribution, marketing and sale of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas excluding production of crude oil and natural gas. The Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act-2006 provides the legal framework for the development of natural gas pipelines and city or local gas distribution networks. With the arrival of the PNGRB, the implementation of PNG in various cities is being taken up in a phased manner as and when the bids are called for by the regulator.
Exploration and production
GAIL is participating in 10 exploration blocks, in Basins such as Mahanadi, Mumbai, Cambay, Assam-Arakan, Tripura Fold Belt, Gujarat Kutch, Krishna Godavari, Cauvery and Cauvery Palar. GAIL has a partnership in these blocks with various companies such as ONGC, OIL, GSPC, Hardy Exploration & Production, Petrogas, JOGPL, Eni and Daewoo as Operators. Out of these 10 E&P blocks, 2 blocks are overseas (A-1 and A-3 blocks in Myanmar).
The blocks are in various stages of exploration, appraisal, and development. Hydrocarbon discoveries are in place in 7 E&P blocks in blocks where GAIL is participating. The blocks with hydrocarbon discoveries are MN-OSN-2000/2, CB-ONN-2000/1, Block A-1 and A-3 Myanmar, CY-OS/2, AA-ONN-2002/1, and CB-ONN-2003/2.
Production of crude oil is in progress from Cambay Onland block (CB-ONN-2000/1) @ 1250 barrels per day. Development activities are in progress in 2 blocks in Burma (A-1 and A-3) and production of gas is expected in May 2013. Declaration of Commerciality has been approved by the Government in Mahanadi Offshore (MN-OSN-2000/2) block. In other blocks where hydrocarbon discoveries have been made, the appraisal is in progress.
GAIL is an active member of the multi-organisation team (MOT) set up for the assessment of shale gas potential in Indian basins. The other representative in MOT is from DGH (Directorate General of Hydrocarbons), ONGC and Oil India Limited (OIL).
GAIL is also a member of the National Gas Hydrate Programme being coordinated by DGH and is actively involved in activities related to gas hydrate exploration.
GAIL Gas Limited
GAIL Gas is a wholly owned subsidiary of GAIL. GAIL Gas has been selected for implementation of City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects in four cities, namely, Kota, Dewas, Sonipat, and Meerut in the first round of bidding by the Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). GAIL Gas supplies CNG & PNG (industrial, commercial and household customers) in the city of Dewas, Meerut, Sonepat, Varanasi and Kota. GAIL GAS is providing natural gas to approximately 350 industrial consumers in TTZ (Taj Trapezium Zone) area (Agra and Firozabad) in Uttar Pradesh India. GAIL GAS has also started the CGD work in Bengaluru Karnataka recently.
Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL)
GAIL has 70% equity share in BCPL, a Joint Venture, with Oil India Limited (OIL), Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), Govt. of Assam, each having 10% equity share. Feedstock Supply Agreements have been signed between BCPL and all the three suppliers, viz., Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, Oil India Limited and Numaligarh Refinery Limited. Technology license agreements have been signed for cracker, polyethylene and polypropylene units.
BCPL was dedicated to the nation by Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi on 5 February 2016. BCPL is set up to produce 280,000 TPA polymer plant at an investment of ₹99.65 billion (US$1.0 billion). The financial commitment to the extent of ₹54 billion (US$560 million) has been made. The plant is presently in O&M phase with capacity utilization of more 100%. In the financial year 2019–20, the plant operated at 108% capacity utilization.
GAIL Global (Singapore) Pte Limited
GAIL has a wholly owned subsidiary, namely, GAIL Global (Singapore) Pte Ltd., to manage investments abroad. GAIL is looking for further business opportunities through this subsidiary company. The official website for GAIL Global Singapore Pte Ltd. is http://www.ggspl.com/ Archived 22 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine. To know more about this subsidiary download the fact sheet.
Aavantika Gas Limited (AGL)
AGL is in operation in Indore and Ujjain and is supplying CNG to the transport sector in these cities. AGL is supplying CNG to almost 9,000 vehicles in both cities. AGL has plans to set up five and two CNG stations in Gwalior and Ujjain respectively, and domestic supplies to households. Six daughter stations are mechanically ready for CNG dispensing, awaiting CCOE final approval. MoPNG has authorised AGL for CGD in Indore, Gwalior and Ujjain. GAIL has a 22.5% stake in the Company along with HPCL as an equal partner.
Bhagyanagar Gas Limited (BGL)
BGL is operating six CNG stations in Vijayawada and 4 CNG stations in Hyderabad and one CNG station in Rajamahendravaram. BGL is supplying CNG in these three cities to almost 6,000 vehicles. BGL is also operating two Auto LPG stations in Hyderabad and one Auto LPG station in Tirupati. BGL has received authorisation from MoPNG for City Gas Distribution (CGD) in Hyderabad and Vijayawada. GAIL has a 22.5% stake in the company along with HPCL as an equal partner.
Central U.P. Gas Limited (CUGL)
CUGL is operating 15 CNG stations in Kanpur, Unnao and two CNG stations in Bareily. CUGL is supplying CNG to almost 45,000 vehicles in the two cities. CUGL commenced its domestic supply of PNG with connexions to 15000 households in Kanpur and Bareilly. CUGL has received authorisation from MoPNG for CGD in Kanpur, Unnao, Bareilly & Jhansi. GAIL has a 25% stake in the Company along with BPCL as an equal partner. CUGL has connected 200 commercial and industrial units in both cities.
Green Gas Limited (GGL)
GGL is operating six CNG stations in Lucknow and three CNG stations in Agra. GGL is supplying CNG in the two cities. GGL has tied up for the commencement of the domestic supply of PNG with connexons to households, commercial and industrial establishments. MoPNG has authorized GGL for CGD in Lucknow and Agra. GAIL has a 22.5% stake in the company along with IOCL as an equal partner.
Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL)
IGL is the largest CGD entity in terms of CNG sales and the number of vehicles supplied by CNG in India. IGL has received authorisation from MoPNG for CGD in Delhi and its suburbs viz. NOIDA (Gautam Budh Nagar), Greater NOIDA, Faridabad and Ghaziabad and part of Gurugram from State Govt. of Haryana. IGL is supplying piped gas to around 900,000 domestic, 3500 Commercial, 1600 small industrial consumers and CNG to over 10,00,000 vehicles through around 425 CNG stations in NCR. GAIL has a 22.5% stake in the company along with BPCL as an equal partner.
Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL)
MGL is a joint venture of GAIL and British Gas. MGL has set up 140 CNG stations catering to over 200,000 vehicles spread over Mumbai, Thane, Mira-Bhayandar and Navi-Mumbai areas besides supplying PNG to over 450,000 domestic customers, and more than 1,000 small industrial and commercial consumers. It has received authorization from MoPNG for CGD in Mumbai, District Thane including Navi Mumbai and Mira Bhayander. GAIL has a 49.75% stake in the company along with British Gas as an equal partner.
Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL)
MNGL is a joint venture of GAIL and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) for the implementation of City Gas Projects in and around Pune city. MNGL is authorized by Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) to Lay, Build, Operate & Expand City Gas Distribution Project in the Geographical Areas of Pune & Pimpri-Chinchwad including adjoining areas of Hinjawadi, Chakan & Talegaon, Valsad (except area already authorized), Dhule, Nashik district, Sindhudurg district & Buldhana, Nanded and Parbhani district in Maharashtra and Bengaluru South district in Karnataka and Nizamabad, Adilabad, Nirmal, Mancherial, Komaram Bheem Asifabad district & Kamareddy district in Telangana.
It has started 87 stations supplying CNG to nearly 5,000 vehicles. GAIL has a 22.5% stake in the company along with BPCL as an equal partner.
