The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board of India has cleared Total’s acquisition of 37.4% stake in Adani Gas, one of the four main distributors of city gas in India, from Adani, which holds 74.8%, for INR 57bn (US$800m). The two parties signed an agreement in October 2019. Adani and Total each owns 37.4% in Adani Gas, with the other shareholders owning the remaining 25.2%.
In October 2018, the two companies signed an agreement to jointly develop energy business projects in the Indian market, including fuel retail and LNG activities. The two companies will work together on various LNG regasification terminals, including the 5 Mt/year Dhamra LNG project on the East coast of India (50% each), and potentially the Mundra LNG terminal. Besides, they decided to set up a joint venture (JV) with the aim to develop a retail network of 1,500 service stations over the period of 10 years. Adani Gas aims to expand its gas distribution activities over the next 10 years through its 38 concessions covering 7.5% of the Indian population; the company bets on the strong growth of gas demand in India, as the government aims to diversify its energy mix (target of 15% of gas in the energy mix by 2030) and to develop domestic use of gas in cities and as fuel for vehicles.
Earlier in February 2020, Total and Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL, 74.92% owned by the Adani Group) agreed to create a 50-50 joint venture, which will take over AGEL’ solar projects in operation, corresponding to a total capacity of over 2 GW across 11 Indian states; all the solar projects benefit from 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with national and regional electricity distributors. Subject to regulatory approval, the transaction is valued US$500m.