Indian gas distributor Gail plans to expand its natural gas transmission volumes by 12pc to over 120mn m³/d during April 2023-March 2024, chairman Sandeep Kumar Gupta said on 23 August.
Gail is also planning to raise market volumes of natural gas to over 100mn m³/d during 2023-2024 from 95mn m³/d in the last fiscal year, and to also double polymer sales to 800,000 t/yr from the existing 399,000 t/yr, Gupta added.
The firm is set to complete around 20,000km of natural gas grid pipelinesthis year, with over 15,600km of pipelines in operation and around 4,200km under construction.
Gail remains optimistic about the new levelised tariff determined by the government to boost its transmission revenue.
It plans to add 400 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations and over 1mn domestic piped natural gas (PNG) connections in 2023-2024, from the existing 2,360 CNG stations operated by Gail and its joint venture companies, as well as current 11mn domestic PNG connections in the country.
The firm has procured two skid-mounted liquefaction plants of 16-18 t/d capacity each in areas that are not connected by pipelines. "The skids are portable and scalable liquefication units that are likely to be commissioned shortly," Gupta said.
Gail is also setting up its first municipal solid waste management (MSW)-based compressed biogas (CBG) plant of 5 t/d capacity at Ranchi, which is expected to be commissioned in December. Gail has also received land allocation and approval from the Karnataka government to set up a MSW-based 10 t/d CBG plant in Bengaluru.
It is establishing a 10MW green hydrogen production unit based on PEM water electrolyser at Vijaypur, Madhya Pradesh state with a capacity of 4.3 t/d, likely to be commissioned by December. The firm is currently blending 3pc hydrogen with natural gas in Avantika Gas' PNG network in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
Gail has a capital expenditure plan of 300bn rupees ($3.63bn) for the next three years, which will be utilised for pipelines, petrochemicals, city gas, and equity contribution in group companies.
The firm is exploring long-term LNG contracts with major global firms and has issued an expression of interest to acquire a stake in a US LNG liquefaction terminal and for 1mn t/yr of long-term LNG supply from the US.
Petrochemicals
Gail has acquired a 1.25mn t/yr purified terephthalic acid plant from private-sector firm JBF Petrochemicals and renamed it Gail Mangalore Petrochemicals, adding to its existing product portfolio of petrochemicals.
It is also building India's first propane dehydrogenation polyprolylene plant with 500,000 t/yr capacity at Usar, Maharashtra state and another 60,000 t/yr polypropylene plant at Pata, Uttar Pradesh state.
In the specialty chemical segment, Gail is also planning to build a 50,000 t/yr isopropyl alcohol plant at Usar. With these additions, Gail's portfolio of petrochemicals would become an approximate 3mn t/yr, Gupta said.
Gail is exploring the possibility of importing ethane for feedstock at its petrochemical plant, with plans to set up an ethane cracker.
The firm has taken several initiativesto develop renewable energy such as floating solar power projects and setting up renewable power plants for captive consumption.
