Lok Sabha Question No. 3036 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-15
Subject: Bifurcation of GAIL
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Gautham Sigamani Pon, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, E. T. Mohammed Basheer, Ganesan Selvam, C.N. Annadurai, Dhanush M Kumar

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3036 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.03.2021 Bifurcation of GAIL

3036.   SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON: SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR: SHRI E.T. MOHAMMED BASHEER: SHRI SELVAM G.: SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI: SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

## पेोलयम और ाक ृ तक गैस मंी

Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is considering the bifurcation of GAIL and if so, the details thereof and aims and objective behind the move;
- (b) whether the Government is also planning for a market-driven pricing mechanism by introducing  a  new  tariff  policy  for  natural  gas  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and whether the Government has consulted all the stakeholders in this regard;
- (c) whether the Government has also laid a road map of increasing the share of natural gas in the country's energy basket to 15 per cent by 2030 and if so, the details thereof and the manner in which GAIL will contribute to achieve the target;
- (d) the details of the projects being operated by GAIL (India) Ltd. in different parts of the country  along  with  the  present  status/progress  of  the  said  projects,  particularly  in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra;
- (e) the details of  profit  earned/loss incurred  by  GAIL (India)  Ltd.  during  the  last three years and the steps taken to enhance the profit; and
- (f) the  other  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  bring  in  transparency  to  India's  gas market?;

## ANSWER

## पेोलयम और ाक ृ तक गैस मंी

## ( ी धम धान )

## MINISTER OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a) There is no such proposal under consideration at present.
- (b) Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has notified the unified tariff regulation i.e. PNGRB  (Determination of Natural Gas in Pipeline Tariff) Second Amendment Regulations, 2020 on 23.11.2020. PNGRB has also notified the Petroleum and Natural  Gas  Regulatory  Board  (Gas  Exchange)  Regulations,  2020,  on  28.09.2020.    Indian

Gas  Exchange  Limited  (IGX)  has  started  functioning  in  June,  2020.    Details  of  these regulations may be seen at www.pngrb.gov.in/eng-web/regulation.html.

(c) As per BP Statistical Review of World Energy, June 2020, the present share of Natural gas of India in primary energy basket is 6.3%. The target is to increase this share to 15% by 2030. Government is promoting expansion of Natural Gas Infrastructure, i.e. pipeline, LNG terminals,  City  Gas  Distribution  &  Compressed  Natural  Gas  retail  network  in  the  country expansion of natural gas market. CGD networks ensure the supply of cleaner fuel (i.e. PNG) to households, industrial & commercial units as well as transportation fuel (CNG) to vehicles. GAIL is executing projects related to expansion of gas infrastructure in the country.

(d) GAIL is majorly implementing Jagdishpur-Haldia-Bokaro-Dhamra pipeline (JHBDPL) with Barauni-Guwahati Pipeline in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand,Odisha, West Bengal, Assam and Kochi-Kootanad-Bangaluru-Manglore Pipeline (KKBMPL) in the state of  Kerala,  Tamilnadu  and  Karnataka.  Details  of  other  projects  of GAIL is available at https://gailonline.com/BV-NarutalGas.html

- (e) The details of the profit earned during the last three years is stated as follows:

| Period   | Profit Before Tax (PBT) (Rs. in Crore)   |
|----------|------------------------------------------|
| FY17-18  | 6,958                                    |
| FY18-19  | 9,085                                    |
| FY19-20  | 7,943                                    |

GAIL  has  informed  that  they  have  taken  the  following  major  steps  to  enhance  the profitability of the company:

- i. Company-wide cost optimization drive has been initiated to bring down the cost and improve operational efficiency during this uncertain business environment
- ii. Digitization and Process optimization drive has been started in the company to reduce response time and cost.

Various marketing initiatives such as hedging of Commodity prices, Destination swap, Time Swap are being undertaken on continuous basis to bring down the cost and mitigate the risk on imported LNG portfolio.

(f) Government is taking steps to progressively move towards gas based economy and major steps taken in this direction are as below:

1.  Fair price discovery through E-bidding platform and Gas Trading Exchange.
2.  Introduction  of  Hydrocarbon  Exploration  and  Licensing  Policy  (HELP)/  Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) replacing NELP/PSC.
3.  Introduction of Discovered Small Field (DSF) Policy for early monetization of unmonetized discoveries of National Oil Companies (NoCs).
4.  National Data Repository (NDR) and National Seismic Programme for conducting 2D seismic survey for data Acquisition, Processing and Interpretation (API).
5.  Introduction of New Domestic Natural Gas Pricing Guidelines, 2014 based on the international  prices  prevailing  in  major  international  hubs  like  Henry  Hub  (USA), Alberta  (Canada),  NBP  (UK),  Russia  etc.,  to  strike  a  fine  balance  between  the requirements of both producing and consuming sectors.
6.  PNGRB has notified PNGRB (Gas Exchange) Regulations, 2020, on 28.09.2020 and PNGRB  (Determination  of  Natural  Gas  in  Pipeline  Tariff)  Second  Amendment Regulations, 2020 on 23.11.2020.

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