Centre moves Cabinet note for splitting GAIL

New Delhi: The Oil Ministry has moved a cabinet note seeking approval for hiving off state-owned gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd's pipeline business into a separate entity for a possible sale to a strategic investor at a later date, sources privy to the development said.

GAIL is India's biggest natural gas marketing and trading firm and owns more than 70 per cent of the country's 16,981-km pipeline network, giving it a stranglehold on the market. Users of natural gas have often complained about not 'fairly' getting access to GAIL's 12,160-km pipeline network to transport their fuel. Sources said to resolve the conflict arising out of the same entity owning the two jobs, bifurcating GAIL is being considered.

GAIL's core business after the bifurcation would be the marketing of natural gas and petrochemical production. It will have to hire capacity on pipelines from the subsidiary and pay regulator approved traffics for the same. It will continue to execute the gas sales agreements it has already signed and will be responsible for the discharge of the obligation under purchase pacts including for import of LNG.

The Ministry last month floated a note for consideration of the Union Cabinet for transferring the pipeline business into a 100 per cent subsidiary. The proposal involves separating the accounts of the pipeline division as well as transferring employees directly connected with the pipeline operations to the new subsidiary, they said adding a suitable name for the subsidiary is being mulled over.