The country’s flagship natural gas company, GAIL India (Gas Authority of India Limited), will turn off its marketing business into a separate firm from April 1. The splitting is in regard to comply with the policy guidelines outlined by the petroleum regulator. GAIL India will remain a gas transmission company and will construct cross-country pipelines to transport gas, while GAIL Gas (GGL) will deal with marketing business.

 

GGL will be listed on the domestic bourses soon. According to UD Choubey, chairman and managing director of GAIL India, the account is already separated for transportation and marketing businesses. The two entities (GAIL India and GGL) will be legally separated from next financial year and all related businesses such as petrochemicals and telecom will remain under GAIL India.

 

The guidelines drawn up by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board required the splitting of the company’s gas transportation activity from its marketing and trading business. The aim is to control the ability of integrated companies like GAIL to cross-subsidize its activities, which lead to unfair competition.