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Journalism of Courage
Mukesh Ambani-led RIL has asked the Centre to nominate users for incremental gas from its Bay of Bengal fields,saying that it has not denied natural gas to any government-identified customer.
Rubbishing Anil Ambani Group’s charges of hoarding gas and creating artificial scarcity,RIL Executive Director and Head of Oil and Gas Business PMS Prasad said customers for about one-fourth of the initial 40 mmscmd of gas from KG-D6 fields are yet to draw due to failure at their ends.
Anil Ambani Group,which is fighting a legal battle with Reliance Industries for obtaining gas at a price of USD 2.34 pet mmBtu had alleged that RIL was deliberately under producing to create artificial scarcity.
The Supreme Court is to hear the case from October 20.
In a letter to Petroleum Secretary R S Pandey,Prasad said of the customers identified by the Government to receive the initial 40 million standard cubic meters per day of gas,NTPC,Dabhol,Essar and GAIL are yet to draw a single unit.
NTPC,which was allocated 2.7 mmscmd,is yet to sign a contract,while Ratnagiri Gas and Power – the owner of Dabhol – has signed a contract for 2.7 mmscmd but has not begun rawing yet. Essar and GAIL between them are expected to start taking 4 mmscmd of gas by next month.
“Of the allocated quantity of 40 mmscmd,allocation to the extent of 9.4 mmscmd remains un-operational till date,” he wrote. “No customer who has been allocated gas by Government,has been denied gas for reasons attributable to RIL.”
