GAIL wants to invest in start-ups in core business areas and non-core areas either directly or indirectly.
State-owned GAIL India has sought shareholder nod to amend the charter of the company to invest in start-ups build solar power plants and set up battery charging stations for electric vehicles as it looks to diversify its portfolio beyond gas and petrochemicals.
New avenues of investment
In a recent report PTI has stated that the nation’s biggest natural gas transporting and marketing company wants to insert six new sections in the main objects clause of the memorandum of association of the company, according to shareholder notice.
The investment can be made through special purpose vehicle (SPV), an alternative investment fund (AIF), fund of funds (FoF) and trust, it said. GAIL said that there is a necessity to adopt new and different pathways to provide clean, cost-effective and efficient mobility services that are safe, reduce dependence on oil imports and achieve more efficient land-use in cities with the least environmental footprints and impacts on human health.
With the objective in mind, the firm wants to set up “battery charging stations and providing charging services” to electric vehicles. With the government planning to make a major shift to electric vehicles by 2030, GAIL felt that charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in India has not been fully developed yet.
It is also looking to “harness solar power potential available at its various sites and installations which can be connected to grid for sale or for own use at other installations through wheeling of power.”
