GAIL bifurcation plan put on hold, firm to monetise pipelines through InvIT

NEW DELHI : The Oil Ministry has put on hold a plan to bifurcate state-owned gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd so as not to dilute the firm’s ability to finance the massive infrastructure building plan, a top official said on Thursday.

GAIL is India’s biggest natural gas marketing and trading firm and owns 60% of the country’s 26,284-km gas pipeline network, giving it a stranglehold on the market.

To resolve the issue, it was proposed that GAIL’s pipeline business should be hived off into a separate entity.

“GAIL has massive plans to double its pipeline network to 34,000-km and there is a realisation that its ability to borrow funds to fund these should not be hampered,” the ministry official involved in the decision-making process said.