Even as the Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani are locked in a legal battle over supply and price of gas from the Krishna-Godavari (K-G) basin, the Andhra Pradesh government has sought its ??due share?? of the hydrocarbon asset.
In a meeting in Hyderabad with the members of the 13th Finance Commission, chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy said that there are varying estimates about the gas availability in the K-G basin. Reliance Industry has already started commercialisation of gas from their D6 block. The first landfall point for the gas in Krishna-Godavari basin is East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.
??It is unfortunate that our state does not get any share in the royalty or in the profit share. We neither enjoy any priority in allocation nor in pricing. This is completely unjust. The extreme interpretation of the constitutional provisions about the offshore resources should not be invoked to deny the people of our state their due share,?? the chief minister said.
Reddy said that the Commission must intervene in the matter as the people of the state were also entitled to reap the benefits of the natural resource, found off the state?s coast.
During the meeting, the chief minister called for the changes in gas distribution mechanism to ensure that the gas requirements of the state?s industry, especially power generating projects, were met. The state also requires gas to supply the same to every household, he emphasised.
Earlier, the state had requested that it should get at least 10% of the gas allocation on a preferential basis for industrial development.