Apex court to hear Ambani brothers' gas dispute

ONCE UNITED: Anil and Mukesh Ambani before the Reliance empire was split among them four years ago.

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New Delhi: The stage is set for the Supreme Court to start hearing from Tuesday one of the most-watched battles in India's corporate history, involving Anil Ambani-led Reliance Natural Resources and elder Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries.

At the crux of the dispute is the supply of natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin, awarded for exploration and harnessing to Reliance Industries, before a split in 2005 in the group founded by legendary industrialist, the late Dhirubhai Ambani.

Based on a family reorganisation pact, the Anil Ambani Group wants 28 million units of gas per day for 17 years at $2.34 per unit. But Reliance Industries says it can only sell it for $4.20 per unit, claiming this was the price approved by the government.

The Bombay High Court had upheld the claim by the younger brother Anil Ambani's group in a verdict delivered in June, which was challenged by Reliance Industries in the apex court.

The government, too, has joined the dispute as an interested party, saying gas was the property of the state and cannot be fought over by two rival corporate houses.

Barely 10 days before the case was to come up before the apex court, Anil, after a pilgrimage to two holy shrines, had sent a conciliatory message to Mukesh, saying there was ample scope to amicably end their dispute.

But Reliance Industries said the issue of pricing and supply of natural gas had now gone beyond a dispute between two companies and had to be resolved only by the courts.