Talks on with GSPC, GAIL for gas pricing

The Adani group is in talks with the GAIL India and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) for the pricing of gas procured. The group, through Gujarat Adani Energy (GAEL), has bagged the licence to distribute gas in Ahmedabad and Vadodara.

Sanjay Gupta, chief executive officer of the Adani group, said, while it will be feasible to purchase gas from GSPC for distribution in Ahmedabad, the company will purchase gas from GAIL for its Vadodara distribution. "The pricing has not been fixed as yet. Talks are currently on with both GAIL and GSPC," Gupta stated.

Gupta said the Adani group was keen on expanding its gas distribution network to other cities of Gujarat as well.

"However, that will depend on the new policies, rules and regulations that will be framed after the recent Surpreme Court order on the Gujarat Gas Act," he said. Gupta added that the group will certainly look to expand its network after the regulations for allocation of licences are fixed in the near future.

When asked if the company is also looking at purchasing gas from Shell, which is constructing a LNG terminal at Hazira near Surat, Gupta said: "As of now, we have not initiated talks with Shell, but we are open to the idea of talks with Shell for purchase of LNG. It will all depend on the prices offered."

Adani group officials say the recent Supreme Court order, where the Gujarat Gas (Regulation of Transmission, Supply and Distribution) Act 2001, was quashed on grounds that gas was a central subject, will not have any impact on the company's ongoing work of laying the pipeline network in Ahmedabad and Vadodara.

It has just completed the financial closure for the two projects, with IDFC sanctioning a loan of Rs 147 crore for the Ahmedabad project and a loan of Rs 27.5 crore for the Vadodara project.

GAEL has placed orders for the pipeline, valves and compressors for CNG stations. Delivery of one compressor has already been received, officials said.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has allotted land of the AMTS Jamalpur terminus for setting up a CNG station. The company is in the process of finalising plots for 27 other such CNG stations in Ahmedabad.