GAIL profit falls 35% to Rs 6,143 crore in FY21

GAIL currently operates 13,200 km of natural gas pipelines.

State-run gas transporter GAIL’s net profit fell 35.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 6,142.8 crore on a consolidated basis in the fiscal ended March, as the natural gas marketing business — GAIL’s largest revenue earner — reported a loss of Rs 435.4 crore against a profit of Rs 2,639 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

In the fourth quarter of FY21, the company posted a profit of Rs 2,535 crore against the Rs 4,814 crore consolidated profit recorded in Q4FY20.

The company’s tax expenses also increased 73% to Rs 1,582.6 crore in FY21. During the fiscal, GAIL’s capex was Rs 6,982 crore, mainly on pipelines, and the capex is expected to be around Rs 6,600 crore in FY22. The petrochemical segment, owing to higher margins and volumes, swung to a before-tax profit of Rs 1,065 crore in the fiscal from the Rs 246-crore loss a year ago.

Manoj Jain, CMD of GAIL said: “We had taken a hit in first two quarters of FY21 due to lower crude oil prices, but in the last two quarters, we have been able to make up for most of those losses”. However, with prices trending on the higher side, “the marketing segment is expecting better numbers from gas trading,” the CMD said.

GAIL currently operates 13,200 km of natural gas pipelines.

The company is planning to expand in the areas of compressed biogas, ethanol and renewable energy and it is undertaking several initiatives to diversify in these areas.

“We are looking for multiple areas of renewable energy, but our immediate target is around 400 mega-watt (MW) of solar plants,” Jain said.

The company will be participating in solar bids conducted by the Solar Energy Corporation of India and BHEL will be its EPC contractor for solar projects. “Apart from such organic growth, we are also looking at the assets of many private players, both big and small, but nothing is in the final stage,” Jain stated.