Total buys 37% in Adani Gas for Rs 5,700 crore
NEW DELHI: French oil and gas major Total SA on Monday announced buying a little over 37% stake in Adani Gas Ltd, the Gujarat-based Adani Group arm that sells natural gas as automotive and kitchen fuel, for an estimated Rs 5,700 crore. This is the third instance in recent times of a foreign energy major piggybacking an Indian entity to establish a footprint in India, currently the fastest-growing fuel retail market in the world. The Total-Adani deal follows BP and Reliance Industries forming a joint venture for fuel retail and Saudi Aramco acquiring a 20% stake in RIL’s refinery and petrochemicals business for an enterprise value of $75 billion.
Total and the Adani Group had in October last year announced a partnership for foraying into the growing fuel retail market and setting up infrastructure for importing gas in ships, or LNG (liquefied natural gas). This partnership followed Total’s exit from a joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell in a 5 million tonne LNG import terminal at Hazira in Gujarat.
