Reddy red-flagged RIL gas price hike to EGoM
In his last days at the Union petroleum ministry, S Jaipal Reddy had reiterated his opposition to a hike in the price of natural gas from the current $4.2 per unit at Reliance Industries’ KG-D6 block. If the company’s demand for price revision is accepted now, the exchequer could lose around $6 billion, Reddy said in a note prepared for the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) and a copy of which was sent to the attorney general (AG).
After India Against Corruption’s Arvind Kejriwal revealed this and posted purported copies of Reddy’s note dated October 10 on its website on Wednesday, RIL came out with a statement denying the allegations.
RIL said: “The statements made by IAC in the press conference today are devoid of any truth or substance whatsoever and are denied. The deep water exploration project in the KG-D6 basin has deployed the best technical resources and has been recognized by the oil and gas industry as one of the very best in its class. This project has added great economic value to the country and by all accounts is a project of which India can be justly proud.” The company added: “Irresponsible allegations made by IAC at the behest of vested interests without basic understanding of the complexities of a project of this nature do not merit a response.”
In 2007, an empowered group of ministers fixed KG gas price on the basis of crude oil price at that time. Even though the price is due for revision only
