French firm Total, India's Adani join hands in LNG sector

French energy company Total on Wednesday announced its partnership with India's Adani Group to jointly develop projects on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals in India. The French firm said that this partnership between Total and Adani Group will create a major footprint in LNG business and new retail network of 1,500 service-stations.

"Total and Adani Group have signed an agreement to jointly develop multi energy offers to the Indian energy market. This cooperation includes Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Fuel Retail. The Adani Group is an Indian private conglomerate active in 50 countries and specialised in commodities trading, port infrastructures and logistics, as well as energy production and distribution," Total said in a press release.

"Total, the world's second largest LNG private player, and Adani, the largest infrastructure conglomerate in India, will serve the fast growing gas demand of the Indian market. The companies will jointly develop various regasification LNG terminals, including Dhamra LNG, on the East coast of India," the statement said.

Giving details of the retail network of 1,500 service stations on Indian main roads, the French company said: "Total and Adani will create a Joint Venture with an objective to build a retail network of 1,500 service stations over the period of 10 years, on the main roads of the country, such as highways and intercity connections to take advantage of a market growing at 4% per year driven by the development of road infrastructures and the emergence of middle class, which has been open to private investors since 2014. These new service stations, in line with international standards, will offer Indian customers Total's full lineup of fuels, lubricants, as well as a broad range of other products and services."

Indian companies are tying up with several foreign partners to meet the growing energy demands in the country. According to Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell under Ministry of Petroleum and natural Gas , India's LNG import for August2018 was 2308.3 MMSCM which was 9.9% higher than the corresponding month of the previous year. The cumulative import of 11753.5 MMSCM for the current year till August 2018 was higher by 18.1% compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.