Petronet LNG Ltd. (BSE: 532522) is an Indian oil and gas company formed by the government of India to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) and set up LNG terminals in the country. It is a joint venture company promoted by the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) with an authorized capital of Rs. 1200 crores (US$ 240 million). Each has 12.5% equity share totaling to 50%. In addition, GDF International (GDFI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Gaz de France, a French national gas company, holds 10% and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) holds 5.2% of the equity. The balance of the equity, 34.8%, is held by the public.
The company has selected Gaz de France as its strategic partner. The company has also signed an LNG sale and purchase agreement with Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Ltd., Qatar for the supply of LNG to India.
Petronet LNG Ltd. has set up its first LNG terminal at Dahej in Gujarat with the capacity of 10 million metric tons per year. Capacity of Dahej Terminal will expand to 15 million tons per year till end of 2014. Another terminal with capacity 5 million tons per year is being set up in Kochi (Kerala) and it is expected to start operations in January 2013. Petronet LNG is planning to set up its third LNG terminal with capacity 5 million tons per year probably in Andhra Pradesh. It is expected that by 2016 PetronetLNG's total operating capacity will be 25 million tons per year.