Government nod for gas pricing formula

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New Delhi, Dec 5 : Natural gas producers like Reliance Industries would need the government approval for the formula used to calculate the price of the fuel, petroleum minister Murli Deora said on Tuesday. “Formula on the basis of which gas pricing is done shall be approved by the government,” Deora told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Deora said a committee headed by joint secretary and financial adviser in his ministry, had recommended formulation of transparent guidelines for approving natural gas pricing basis for the purposes of calculating government revenue from gas fields (profit petroleum and royalty).

The committee was constituted after the ministry rejected Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries’ proposal to sell gas from its KG-D6 fields in Bay of Bengal to Anil Ambani’s company saying the price of $2.34 per million British thermal unit (mbtu) was not arrived at arms-length basis.

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