French energy giant Total SA is in talks to buy up to half of Adani Group’s stake in LNG projects in Gujarat and Odisha, an under-construction LPG import facility and in its city gas projects, sources privy to the development said.

The French firm is keen on investing in the fast growing gas market in India and finds Adani a suitable vehicle as it owns the crucial downstream infrastructure, they said.

Adani holds a 25 per cent stake in the just completed 5-million-tonne liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at Mundra. It is also building a similar capacity LNG import terminal at Dhamra in Odisha at a cost of Rs 5,100 crore.

Sources said Total was in talks to buy half of Adani’s stake in the two terminals.

It is also looking to buy a 50 per cent stake in the under-construction LPG import terminal that Adani is building at Mundra in Gujarat as well as a stake in Adani’s city gas distribution projects, the sources said, adding a preliminary pact may be signed this week during the visit of Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne.

India is looking at more than doubling the share of natural gas in its energy basket to 15 per cent in next few years and is giving a major push to city gas distribution projects. It imports half of its gas needs, which are projected to rise exponentially as it shifts from polluting liquid fuels to environment-friendly natural gas.

While an email sent to Total for comments remained unanswered, the Adani group spokesperson wasn’t immediately available for comments.

While the Mundra LNG terminal has Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) as the lead partner, Adani is building a new LPG import facility at the same port with a total capacity of 3.56 million tonnes per annum. The LPG terminal is to be completed by next month.

Adani Gas, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, is developing city gas distribution (CGD) networks to supply the piped natural gas (PNG) to the industrial, commercial, domestic (residential) units and compressed natural gas (CNG) to the transport sector.

It has already set up city gas distribution networks in Ahmedabad and Vadodara in Gujarat, Faridabad in Haryana and Khurja in Uttar Pradesh.

It has, in the recently concluded CGD bid round, won rights to 13 cities on its own and another nine in joint venture with state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC).

These are in addition to the 50:50 Adani-IOC joint venture winning rights to develop the CGD network in Allahabad, Chandigarh, Ernakulam, Panipat, Daman, Dharwad, and Udhamsingh Nagar in previous bid rounds.

Sources said Total is looking to buy half of Adani’s stake in all the CGD networks.