New Delhi: State-run GAIL (India) Ltd is widening its natural gas pipeline network, spreading its LNG sourcing and shipping across more suppliers, building out petrochemicals and LPG infrastructure, and putting money into clean-energy technologies. Chairman Deepak Gupta framed the agenda on Thursday around a single argument: geopolitical disruption has made energy security a priority equal to the transition itself.
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Speaking at the company's 42nd annual general meeting, Gupta said the past year had brought that balance into sharp relief.
"Energy security has become as important as energy transition," he said. He pointed to tensions in the Middle East and to the disruption of LNG supply chains through the Strait of Hormuz, which exposed weaknesses in global energy markets.
"The resulting volatility in LNG prices, freight rates and supply availability reinforced the need for diversified sourcing, resilient infrastructure and flexible supply chains," he said. "At the same time, the global transition towards cleaner energy continued unabated, with sustained investments in renewable energy, nuclear power, energy storage and low-carbon technologies."
Natural gas will keep its place in the transition, he said, because it is flexible and carries a lower carbon intensity.
GAIL already operates India's largest natural gas transmission system, and Gupta said the network has grown past 18,690 kilometres. A further 1,500 km is under construction. On completion, the grid will come close to 20,000 km.
The LPG transmission business is growing alongside it. GAIL is doubling the capacity of the 1,427-km Jamnagar-Loni LPG pipeline to 6.5 MMTPA from the current 3.25 MMTPA.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has separately cleared GAIL to build three LPG pipelines running to roughly 1,775 km in total.
A 60,000-tonne-a-year polypropylene unit has been commissioned at Pata, lifting the integrated complex from 810,000 tonnes to 870,000 tonnes.
Work continues on the 500,000-tonne-a-year propane dehydrogenation-polypropylene project at Usar, which Gupta called India's first PDH-based polypropylene complex. The estimated investment is about Rs 11,256 crore.
At Mangalore, GAIL is building a 1.25 MMTPA purified terephthalic acid plant, which takes the company into a new petrochemical value chain.
"These investments in petrochemicals are not simply about adding capacity," Gupta said. "They are about developing a more diversified downstream business and strengthening the growth of GAIL's petrochemical portfolio."
GAIL is entering gas-based fertiliser manufacturing at scale. Its board has granted in-principle approval for two plants, one in Maharashtra and one in Chhattisgarh, carrying a combined investment of roughly Rs 21,000 crore.
The plants would generate fresh demand for natural gas and aid regional development, while feeding into India's food-security goals.
GAIL's LNG sourcing portfolio now stands at 16.56 million tonnes a year, mixing long-term contracts with market-linked purchases. The company brought in 132 LNG cargoes during 2025-26, seven of them on the spot market, working to keep priority customers supplied through a volatile international market.
Shipping capacity has grown too. GAIL has signed long-term charters for the GAIL Bhuwan, at 180,000 cubic metres, and Energy Fidelity, at 174,000 cubic metres. The company now has access to nine LNG vessels, five of them on long-term charter, Gupta said.
The international structure is being built out on three fronts. GAIL Global (USA) LNG LLC underpins the company's US sourcing and liquefaction portfolio. GAIL Global (Singapore) Pte Ltd is developing LNG trading and international business. GAIL has also set up GAIL Global IFSC Ltd at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City, to handle treasury management and to look at international financial services and ship-leasing opportunities.
The Dabhol LNG terminal can now operate year-round after the completion of its breakwater facility, and took its first cargo during the monsoon season. The terminal also received its 1,000th LNG cargo during the year.
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The GAIL board has approved a scheme to merge Konkan LNG Ltd into GAIL, subject to the applicable processes, to bring the two closer operationally and strategically.
