GAIL (India) has announced an increase in its startup investment fund from ₹1 billion (~$11.53 million) to ₹5 billion (~$57.67 million). The increased fund will be deployed to nurture promising startups with focus on clean energy, renewables, energy storage, electric mobility and digital transformation.

GAIL launched ‘Pankh’ in July 2017 to support promising start-ups. Since its inception, the initiative has invested in 36 startups across multiple sectors, including compressed biogas (CBG), electric mobility and environmental solutions.

GAIL’s renewable portfolio is approximately 132 MW, comprising 118 MW of wind and 14 MW of solar energy. The company is also pursuing opportunities to produce and market CBG from organic waste and exploring sectors, including ethanol and hydrogen, for new ventures.

Besides sourcing renewable power from open access, the company is setting up 20 MW solar projects to meet the energy requirements of its electrolyzer project in Vijaipur, Madhya Pradesh.

In October 2024, GAIL invited bids for the design, engineering, procurement and supply, construction, erection, testing, commissioning, and operation and maintenance of a 7.75 MW grid-connected floating solar project at Vijaipur in Madhya Pradesh.

In its annual report 2023-24, GAIL said the installation of a rooftop solar system in its Pata plant in Uttar Pradesh reduced GHG emissions by 199 tCO2e in FY 2023-24.

The company’s electricity consumption from renewable sources increased from 92,182 gigajoules in 2022-23 to 1,16,872 gigajoules in 2023-24.

GAIL aspires to achieve 100% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2035 and 35% reduction in Scope 3 emissions by 2040.

Last January, GAIL and ethanol producer TruAlt Bioenergy announced an investment of $72 million to set up CBG projects through a joint venture. GAIL would participate in TruAlt’s joint venture company, Leafiniti Bioenergy, the owner and operator of one of the country’s biggest CBG plants.