5 February 2020 the Oil Ministry has moved the cabinet, seeking approval to split GAILs pipeline business into a separate entity. Post approval, a consultant will be appointed to carry out the transfer of assets to a separate entity (taking additional ~8-10 months to complete). GAIL did not start executing the Jagdishpur-Haldia-Bokaro-Dharma (JHBDPL) pipeline until it received approval for Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of ~40% of the estimated INR129.4b project cost. Similarly, Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL) has recently got VGF approval of ~60% of the estimated INR92.7b pipeline cost. If GAILs transmission segment is sold off, it remains unclear if a private player is willing to invest in a low IRR pipeline business or if the government is willing to assist them with cardinal VGF. GAILs natural gas (NG) transmission volumes in FY19 stood at 107.4mmscmd (capacity utilization at 52.