GAIL India likely to be split ahead of setting up natural gas exchange

The Indian government is likely to split national gas infrastructure and marketing major GAIL India into separate entities, with one controlling pipeline construction and operation and the other natural gas marketing. The proposal comes in the wake of the Indian government moving ahead to set up a gas trading hub or exchange. GAIL’s pipeline construction and operation business will be treated as a ‘public utility’ offering open access to all gas marketing entities participating in the gas exchange.