Gas Authority of India Limited

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Gas Authority of India Limited, better known as GAIL is India's predominant natural gas concern. GAIL is directly involved with all the dimensions of natural gas integration in India and is responsible for processes such as exploration, processing, production, transmission, marketing, and distribution. The company was founded in August, 1984.

GAIL is also responsible for ensuring that all products and services related to natural gas in India are well regulated and distributed. Gas Authority of India Limited has an impressive portfolio - it owns more than 6,500 km of high-pressure pipelines for that have a net capacity of carrying nearly 150 MMSCMD of natural gas spanning the length and breadth of India. Apart from this, GAIL also has a vast LPG transmission network spanning 1,922 km that has the capacity of transporting 3.8 MMTPA of liquefied petroleum gas. Gas Authority of India Limited also has several coal-bed methane blocks and as many as 30 gas and oil exploration blocks.

Gas Authority of India Limited also owns the only gas-based fully-integrated petrochemical complex in north India at Pata which is capable of producing 410,000 TPA of Polymers. Some of the other key strengths of Gas Authority of India Limited are enlisted as under:
  • The company owns 7 gas processing units that produce 1.2 MMTPA of LPG and other liquid hydrocarbons.

  • GAIL owns 13,000 km of OFC network that provides high and reliable bandwidth for telecom service providers.

  • GAIL has several joint venture companies in Delhi, Agra, Lucknow, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Kanpur, Agartala, and Bhopal that ensure the regular supply of piped natural gas for domestic as well as commercial purposes. These companies also supply compressed natural gas to the huge Indian transportation sector.

  • GAIL has a significant stake in the Dahej LNG Terminal as well as the Kochi LNG Terminal in Kerala that is under construction as of now.

  • GAIL has also been given the responsibility of refurbishing the Dabhol LNG terminal.

  • GAIL has a strong presence in Egypt by means of equity-based partnerships with 3 Egyptian companies - Fayum Gas Company SAE, National Gas Company SAE, and Shell CNG SAE.

  • Gas Authority of India Limited has a considerable stake in China Gas Holding by means of which GAIL intends to delve into CNG-related opportunities in China.

  • GAIL also has a fully-owned subsidiary company in Singapore, known as GAIL Global (Singapore) Pvt. Ltd.
In 2006-07 GAIL's annual turnover was more than ` 16,000 crore. The company's net profit in the same period was ` 2,387 crore. Gas Authority of India Limited has more than 3,000 employees on its rolls and its registered office is located in New Delhi, India. The company is headed by Mr. U.D. Choubey who is the chairman and managing director.

The future challenges that Gas Authority of India Limited has taken on are to implement green fuel industrialization by creating "green energy corridors" that will connect important consumptions sources in India with primary gas fields and LNG sources. GAIL also seeks to explore foreign markets and become an international force to reckon with in the natural gas value chain.