AG&P to invest $1.2bn in Indian gas

Singapore-based AG&P will invest $1.2bn in the natural gas sector in India over the next five years, Abhilesh Gupta, the managing director of its Indian unit, AG&P Pratham, told The Economic Times Energy Leadership Summit on June 17.

“AG&P is committing one of the largest foreign investments in Indian downstream and midstream energy business over the next five years,” he said.

AG&P Pratham is developing city gas distribution (CGD) networks in 12 areas in India. In 2018 and 2019, AG&P was awarded 12 CGD licences by Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), Indian downstream regulator, to exclusively provide natural gas in 31 districts in the states of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, including CNG for use in vehicles and piped natural gas (PNG) for domestic, industrial and commercial use.

Gupta said that AG&P Pratham plans to build 35 liquefied & compressed natural gas (LCNG) stations and more than 500 CNG stations across India over the next two years and more than 100 LCNG and about 1,500 CNG stations in the next eight years. It opened the first LCNG station in the city of Jodhpur in the western Indian state of Rajasthan earlier this year. 

“We are very bullish about the development of these areas,” he said. Gupta added that transport, industrial and household segments will be the main demand drivers for gas in India and help the country achieve the aim of raising the share of gas in the energy mix to 15% by 2030 from 6% today.

AG&P is also developing a floating storage unit (FSU)-based LNG import facility in southern India. Gupta said that an FSU-based terminal will ensure faster implementation and cost-effectiveness. The initial capacity of the terminal will be 1mn metric tons/year which can be expanded to 3mn mt/yr. The groundbreaking ceremony for the terminal was held in February last year,

Gupta said that the work at the terminal was suspended due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Strategically located 280 km south of Chennai and in close proximity to Tamil Nadu’s manufacturing clusters, the terminal will provide natural gas to power plants, industrial and commercial customers within a 300 km radius.