Gail India hit a 52-week high of Rs 116.50 today following market buzz that the company has stuck gas off the west coast.

The stock of the gas distribution company eased slightly from that high to Rs 116.10 (up 5.21%) no sooner. But the talk of the gas find was instrumental in lifting the stock from the day's low of Rs 105. Substantial volumes of close to 20 lakh shares were traded on BSE in less than two hours of trading.

The scrip of Gail India has now risen by 54% from Rs 75.50 on 28 April 2003.

In other developments, Gail India will consider the matter of acquiring Tata Petrodyne, a 100% subsidiary of Tata Power Company on 20 July 2003.

Gail is the largest gas transmission and marketing company in India. It owns and operates over 4,000 kms of pipeline and has about a 95% market share in the natural gas business in India.

Gail buys natural gas from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and distributes it to industrial and commercial users, besides operating a few liquid petroleum gas plants. It also manages the Hazira-Bijapur-Jagdishpur pipeline, in which the residual gas is cracked to make petrochemicals at Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh.

Gail plans to invest Rs 20,000 crore in expanding operations over the next five years.

As per reports, Gail will soon enter into a key deal with Turkey's Botas Petroleum Pipeline Corp to jointly build cross-country pipelines and gas retailing projects. After the pact is signed, the two companies will determine projects they can jointly take up in Turkey, India and other countries. The pact will make way for cooperation in distributing compressed natural gas, developing gas processing facilities, retailing gas in residential areas and underground gas storage projects in Turkey and India.

Meanwhile, Gail is in talks with global oil producers like Royal/Dutch Shell and BP Amoco for sourcing naphtha for supplies to domestic bulk users like the fertiliser and the power sector.

It has also been reported that British Gas India, part of the British Gas Group of the UK, has approached Gail to further the alliance between the two beyond Mahanagar Gas, their distribution business in Mumbai. The two have been exploring the possibility in which the British company may offer a strategic stake of 15-25% in Gujarat Gas to Gail. The two companies also want to extend the Mahanagar Gas distribution system in Mumbai to Pune, where Gail has distribution rights.

For Q4 ended 31 March 2003, Gail India has posted a 58% jump in net profit to Rs 531.03 crore compared to a net profit of Rs 336.02 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2002 (MQ-2002). Total income (net of excise) has gone up 14.9% to Rs 3,079.48 crore from Rs 2,679.55 crore in MQ-2002. For FY 2002-03, Gail has turned out a 35.5% rise in net profit to Rs 1,607.01 crore compared to a net profit of Rs 1,185.84 crore for the year ended 31 March 2002. Total income (net of excise) has increased from Rs 10,518.60 crore in FY 2001-02 to Rs 11,664.02 crore for FY 2002-03.