NEW DELHI, April 9 (Reuters) - India's largest gas distributor GAIL (India) plans to borrow 50-60 billion rupees in fiscal 2027 to fund expansion, and has bought three spot LNG cargoes to offset supply shortages caused by the Iran war, a company executive said on Thursday.
The amount it plans to borrow would be the equivalent of $539 million-$647 million.
Finance director Rakesh Jain, at an industry event, also said GAIL's Dabhol LNG import terminal in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra state, is handling 2.25 million tonnes per year, below its 5 million tpy capacity, due to tighter global supplies.
Iran's blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, which handles 20% of global LNG flows, and damage to Qatar's liquefaction trains - sidelining 12.8 million tons per year of supply for three to five years - have slashed availability and pushed up spot prices.
Last year, India received nearly half of its LNG imports from Qatar, according to data from analytics firm Kpler.
Indian refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp has also been unable to secure an LNG cargo to operate its 5 million tpy Chhara LNG terminal on the west coast in Gujarat state, a company source told reporters at the event.
The source said HPCL did not receive cargoes from its supplier, ADNOC Trading, in March and April, as ADNOC Trading was due to deliver volumes sourced from Qatar, and that the Chhara terminal had yet to reach full operational capacity due to operational issues.
ADNOC Trading did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
($1 = 92.7100 Indian rupees)
Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi, Writing by Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru and Emily Chow in Singapore; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Bernadette Baum
Source: Reuters