Gujarat Gas net profit jumps 77 pc in March quarter

Gujarat Gas Ltd Monday reported a 77 per cent jump in net profit for the quarter ended March on the back of higher sales.

Its net profit in the January-March period at Rs 116.54 crore, or Rs 1.69 a share, was higher than Rs 65.95 crore, or Rs 0.96 per share, earning in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales rose to Rs 1,963.26 crore from Rs 1,777.82 crore in January-March 2018.

For the full fiscal 2018-19, net profit was up 43 per cent at Rs 417 crore.

The company said it added 63 new CNG stations in 2018-19, highest-ever in a year by the company. The firm commissioned its first CNG station in Narmada within four months of receiving city gas distribution licence.

Gujarat Gas added close to 1 lakh domestic cooking gas connections and 300 industrial customers during 2018-19.

"The National Green Tribunal has ordered on March 6, 2019, to ban the use of coal-based gasifiers in Morbi, Gujarat. As a result of this order, the industrial sales volumes in Morbi have increased from mid-March 2019 and are currently flowing in the range of around 4.50 million standard cubic metre per day (mmscmd)," a company statement said.

Currently, Gujarat Gas sells about 8.5 mmscmd of natural gas. It is India's largest gas distribution company in terms of sales volume, geographical spread and customer base.

The company distributes gas to about 13,55,000 domestic and 3540-plus industrial users. It has around 344 CNG retail outlets.