(LiveMint)
India plans to split state-run gas utility GAIL by March next year to create two companies: one marketing gas, and another operating pipelines that can be used by consumers who buy direct from producers, the head of the sector’s regulator told .
GAIL (India) Ltd is the country’s biggest gas marketing and trading firm and owns most of the nation’s pipelines, giving it a stranglehold on the market for the fuel. By splitting GAIL, the regulator of India’s oil and gas sector hopes to increase the number of gas consumers and attract the billions of dollars needed to expand the pipeline network and build more liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals.
“All this un-bundling should be done within this fiscal year (to 31 March 2019),” D.K. Sarraf, chairman of India’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Board.GAIL already keeps separate accounts for its gas pipeline and marketing businesses, making it easier to split them into two entities before a change of ownership, he said.
