GAIL (India) Limited is amongst the top 4 Indian companies with "Well Above Average"  Business Profile and "Very Strong"  Financial Profile, both being the highest markings, in the recent analysis of corporate India by Standard and Poor's and CRISIL. The other three companies in this group are Infosys, Wipro and TCS

GAIL's dominant position as India's largest gas transmission and marketing company; a very strong financial profile andstrong demand and new gas sources are the rationale behind the strong credit profile of the company. The report says that GAIL's financial profile has shown steady improvement and benefited from predictable cash flow from its transmission business. The company - ratio of Funds from Operations (FFO) to total debt was strong at 191% in the fiscal 2005, while Total Debt to EBITDA was low at 0.5x. The report further says that although the company - debt is expected to increase as the company funds part of the capital expenditure with debt, its gearing and cash flow coverage measures should remain at a comfortable level, given its current strong position.

The report further says that with the recent gas finds in India and the expected increase in LNG imports in the near future, construction of transmission pipelines would be required. Hence GAIL is in a strong position to benefit from the additional business

The joint analytical report on India's Corporate Sector is the first to be brought out by Standard and Poor's, one of the world's foremost providers of independent international ratings and evaluations along with CRISIL, India - premier credit rating organization. The report analyses the business and financial profiles of 50 prominent Indian corporations with a global perspective, while taking into consideration the domestic operating environment. The above details are based on the 'India Top 50 Corporates' report published by Standard and Poor's and CRISIL in October 2005, which is the latest available