GAIL scouting acquisitions to diversify renewable portfolio, to foray into hydrogen

On 23^rd August 2021, in GAIL’s latest annual report, its chairman and managing director Manoj Jain announced that company will foray into hydrogen generation and is looking for acquisitions to scale up its renewable energy portfolio as company looks to align its business portfolio, apart from natural gas, with energy transition being witnessed across the globe. GAIL will be laying pipeline infrastructure to connect consumption sources to connect consumption centres to gas sources while also augmenting its renewable energy portfolio to embrace the transition with little issues.

GAIL (Gas Authority of India Ltd.) is laying around 6,000-kilometers of pipeline including a west coast to east coast pipeline from Mumbai to Jharsuduga in Odisha via Nagpur, said GAIL chairman and managing director, Major Jain. GAIL currently has a pipeline network of 13,700-kilometers and the ongoing pipeline project will take its combined pipeline network to close to 20,000-kilometers. Mr. Jain further added and said, “GAIL "will be selectively investing in the renewable energy domain given the future growth potential. The company has been scouting for opportunities to scale up the RE (renewable energy) portfolio from the current 130 MW through bidding and other inorganic routes such as mergers and acquisitions. GAIL will be selectively investing in the renewable energy domain given the future growth potential.”

Addtionally, without providing any details, Mr. Jain said, “the company is also foraying into ethanol and hydrogen generation.” Hydrogen is a clean fuel and when burnt in a fuel cell, it produces only water. Many countries have already started venturing into hydrogen production from variety of sources including natural gas, nuclear power, biomass, and renewable power like solar and wind.

In India, many big companies including Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), ndian Oil Corporation and NTPC have announced ambitious plans for hydrogen generation, and now GAIL have also joined the list. Major Jain said GAIL has the largest and most diverse LNG portfolio in India that can offer both stable prices and reliable supply to consumers.