India's GAIL Sets 2040 Goal For Net Zero Carbon Emissions

India's GAIL (India) Ltd has set a 2040 target to achieve net zero carbon emissions from its operations, Chairman Manoj Jain told the gas distributor's annual shareholders' meeting on Friday.

India, one of the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters, is aiming to reach net zero emissions by 2070, and wants to raise the share of gas in the country's energy mix to 15% by 2030 from the current 6.2%.

Globally oil and gas companies have set varying targets to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions, those linked to a company's own operations, and Scope 3 which are produced when customers use their products.

"In line with India’s vision to achieve Net Zero by 2070, GAIL has completed a comprehensive study on science-based Net-Zero ambition and intends to achieve 100% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions and a 35% reduction in Scope 3 emissions by 2040,” Jain said.

Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, operator of the world's biggest refining complex, aims to achieve net zero by 2035, while state-owned Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have set a 2040 goal.

India Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, aims to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2046.

To cut its carbon footprint, GAIL is venturing into green hydrogen production and aims to set up 3 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030.

It has also started selling hydrogen blended gas in central India.

GAIL is setting up portable units on two sites to liquefy natural gas for easy transportation and sale in areas that are not connected with the pipeline grid.

The company plans to manufacture the portable units in India, Jain said.