Adani Total Gas Ltd to invest Rs 20,000 cr in setting up city gas infra

Adani Total Gas Ltd (ATGL) on Monday said it will invest Rs 20,000 crore in setting up city gas infrastructure across the country over the next 8 years

Adani Total Gas Ltd (ATGL), the joint venture between Adani Group and TotalEnergies of France, on Monday said it will invest Rs 20,000 crore in setting up city gas infrastructure across the country over the next 8 years, with 60 per cent of the money going into the 14 licences it won recently.

With the addition of 14 geographical areas or GAs it won in the latest bid round for city gas distribution (CGD) licences, Adani Total Gas now has a footprint in 95 districts spread across 12 states, catering to more than 9 million households.

The company is now the largest CGD player, retailing CNG to automobiles and piped natural gas to households in 33 GAs.

"Adani Total Gas Ltd (ATGL) has won licenses to expand its CGD network in 14 new GAs in the recently concluded 11th round of CGD bidding by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB)," the firm said in a statement. "ATGL is now the largest city gas distribution company catering to 52 GAs, 19 of which are operated along with its strategic joint venture partner Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)."

These 52 GAs account for 15% of the country covering 124 districts across 18 states and 3 UTs. ATGL on a standalone basis has 33 GAs.

With an increasing basket of products and services in the clean energy sector, ATGL is committed to providing convenient and environment-friendly natural gas for cooking and water heating to more than 9 million households, economic transport fuel for vehicles by establishing around 2,000 CNG Stations and clean fuel to industrial and commercial consumers.

"To achieve these ambitions, ATGL will be investing Rs 12,000 crore in these 14 additional GAs, taking ATGL's total commitment in the clean energy sector to Rs 20,000 crore," the statement said.

PNGRB had last week declared winners for 52 out of the 61 GAs that received bids in the latest bidding round. ATGL won the maximum 14 GAs, followed by Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) winning license for 13 GAs and state-owned IOC for 8 GAs.

The bid round is part of the government strategy to increase the share of natural gas in the country's energy basket to 15 per cent by 2030 from current 6.2 per cent.

ATGL won three GAs each in Assam and Chhattisgarh, four in Maharashtra including Amravati, one each in Jharkhand and Odisha and two in Madhya Pradesh.

The 19 GAs outside of ATGL are managed by Indian Oil-Adani Gas Pvt Ltd (IOAGPL) - a 50:50 joint venture between ATGL and IOC.

"Adani Total Gas is one of India's pioneers in environment-friendly piped natural gas (PNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG). Now with the authorization of additional 14 geographical areas, our presence expands from 39 to 95 districts," said Suresh Manglani, CEO, ATGL.

"With strong support from the Adani Group and TotalEnergies, ATGL is committed to the expeditious development of CGD networks across all these new 52 districts."

ATGL, he said, will now be catering to 10% of the country's population with cleaner fuel for households as well as for transportation. "ATGL is fully committed to playing a pivotal role in meeting the clean energy needs of India and this strategic expansion is fully aligned with our commitment of nation-building.