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GAIL (India) Limited has reported a consolidated net profit of ₹4,813.88 crore for the fourth quarter of financial year 2019-20. This is over three times the ₹1,523.73-crore net profit reported in the same quarter of the financial year 2018-19. The increase in bottom line is mainly due to adoption of a lower tax regime, a company statement said.
Consolidated total income for the quarter under review stood at ₹18,893.64 crore, down from ₹19,893.11 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year.
For the full financial year 2019-20, consolidated total income stood at ₹74,114.13 crore, down from ₹77,448.44 crore in 2018-19. Consolidated net profit for fiscal 2019-20 stood at ₹9,514.64 crore, up from ₹6,552.77 crore in the fiscal 2018-19.
Commenting on the impact of Covid-19 on business operations, Manoj Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, GAIL (India), said that although there were some reductions in GAIL’s business activities in the initial stage due to countrywide lockdown, with graded relaxation in lockdown and other measures by the Centre to resume economic activities, the operations of the company have been normalised to a great extent.
Interest in Gas Exchange
In response to queries from reporters, Jain said that GAIL is analysing the prospects of buying stake in the Indian Gas Exchange (IGX), the country’s first automated national-level natural gas trading platform.
IGX is offering buyers and sellers of natural gas a platform to trade but the delivery of this gas is largely dependent on GAIL (India)’s pipeline network.
Responding to a query on the capacity utilisation of GAIL’s pipelines because of the gas exchange, he said, “There is a gas exchange that has opened. And we are also expecting the regulator to provide certain guidelines to these exchanges. Once those come, then probably it will be in a mature stage, where it will be properly handling the responsibility of gas trading.”
BusinessLine reported on May 28 that the domestic industry is awaiting regulatory clarity on the operations of IGX. This exchange was later launched on June 15. Till now the exchange has been operating without any regulations being issued by the Centre.
“Over a period, we expect this exchange to help in transparency and increase usage of natural gas in the country,” Jain added.
Responding to a direct query on whether GAIL is evaluating buying a stake in the gas exchange, Jain said, “Though we are analysing it, it is difficult to confirm as of now.”
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