GAIL shares climb 4%; PSU to commission 1st green hydrogen project in April, says report

GAIL (India) Ltd shares climbed 4 per cent in Tuesday's trade amid a report suggesting the largest domestic natural gas company was planning to commission its first green hydrogen project in central India in April. The Reuters report quoting three company sources said the 10-megawatt proton exchange membrane electrolyser for the green-hydrogen producing unit at the Vijaipur complex in Madhya Pradesh state has been imported from Canada. Business Today could not independently verify the report. 

Following the development, the GAIL stock rose 3.90 per cent to hit a high of Rs 180.75 on BSE. With this, GAIL shares are up 8.5 per cent in 2024 so far and 74 per cent in the last on year.

A source told Reuters that once the initial hiccups are sorted at the commissioning stage, GAIL may start producing in a month's time. The sources declined to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

The unit is expected to produce about 4.3 metric tonnes of hydrogen per day, with a purity of about 99.999 per cent by volume, and would use renewable power, Reuters suggested. GAIL is one of the seven Maharatna Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) under Government of India. GAIL (India) has diversified interests across the natural gas value chain of trading, transmission, LPG production & transmission, LNG re-gasification, petrochemicals, city gas, E&P, etc. It owns and operates a network of around 15,583 km of natural gas pipelines spread across the length and breadth of country. 

GAIL commands 70 per cen market share in gas transmission and has a Gas trading share of over ~ 50% in India. It, along with its subsidiaries/JVs also have a formidable market share in city gas distribution, as per the compayn's website. In the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) market, GAIL has significantly large portfolio. GAIL is also expanding its presence in renewable energy like solar,wind and biofuel.

India aims to reach 5 million tons of annual green hydrogen production capacity by 2030. The company's communication office did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.