In April 2024, Energy Department entered the city gas business in India by making a primary investment in AG&P LNG Marketing Pte. Ltd. (hereinafter “Holding Company”) through a Japanese consortium comprising a new SPC formed together with the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport & Urban Development and a subsidiary of Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. The other investors in the Holding Company are the Funds managed by I Squared Capital.

The Government of India is seeking to expand the use of natural gas by popularizing compressed natural gas (“CNG”) vehicles through the development of city gas distribution network (“CGD network”) and pursuing other approaches as measures to meet the increasing energy demand associated with economic growth and to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution, with the aim of becoming carbon neutral by 2070. City gas distribution companies are granted exclusive authorizations for laying, building, operating, or expanding the CGD network in given authorized areas (“GAs”) by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board of India.

The Holding Company has investments in THINK Gas, which holds 7 GAs mainly in north-central India, and has investments in AG&P Pratham, which holds 12 GAs mainly in southern India. THINK Gas and AG&P Pratham have a total business area of approximately 325,000 km2, equivalent to around 90% of Japan’s land mass. The Holding Company will continue to invest in developing CGD infrastructure (CNG stations, household connections, steel and MDPE pipelines) with a view to increase the sale of natural gas and help in the transition of India into a gas based economy. Energy Department will contribute to LNG procurement, advanced inventory management, and sales expansion for commercial and industrial use by leveraging its accumulated knowledge and experience in various businesses inside and outside Japan.