Ministry to support NTPC in KG gas row

In a turnaround of sorts giving a new twist to the ongoing battle over the KG basin gas, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry on Wednesday decided to support the state-run NTPC in its legal battle against Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited for fulfilling the commitment to supply natural gas at the 2004 price for its Kawas and Gandhar power plants. The change in Petroleum Ministry’s stand and the meeting between the two secretaries came days after the NTPC sought legal opinion on the issue from the Attorney General as well as the Solicitor General who had felt that RIL could not be allowed to wriggle out of a commitment made through a global bid and the power PSU should move the Supreme Court. However, while extending support to NTPC’s case against RIL, the Ministry is learnt to have opposed Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Natural Resources Limited’s claim over KG-D6 gas at a similar price on the grounds that a private family MoU could not impinge on government’s right to approve price and fix usage of gas. Even the Empowered Group of Ministers headed by Pranab Mukherjee, which had fixed the $4.2 per mBtu price for KG-D6 gas, had stated that its decision was without prejudice to the outcome of NTPC versus RIL case.