Click to play videoNew Delhi: Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Monday claimed that the Centre was not discriminating against Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL) in the Ambani gas row.
Deora, making a statement in the Lok Sabha on the Mukesh Ambani vs Anil Ambani feud over the Krishna-Godavari Basin gas, said that Mukesh's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) would have to price gas according to government rules.
"Gas to be produced from Reliance Industries' KG-D6 fields has to be utilised in accordance with the gas utilisation policy approved by the government. RIL will have to provide gas to customers subject to government policy," said Deora.
He also clarified that there was no discrimination against Uttar Pradesh in the gas policy and revealed that five power plants in the state would get gas from KG Basin.
The Union Petroleum Minister claimed that RIL was producing 35 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) of gas from KG-D6 fields currently and the output would eventually to go up to 80 mmscmd.
However, the power sector has been allotted only 18 mmscmd of gas. He also added that no gas had been allocated to any plant that was not functional as the priority would be existing power plants.
Deora said Anil Ambani Group's proposed Dadri power plant would be taken up for allocating natural gas from KG-D6 fields along with other similar upcoming gas-fired power plants.
He also pointed out that the matter in between RIL and RNRL was sub-judice as the dispute was being heard by the Supreme Court.
The Samajwadi Party had earlier said that the government's gas allocation policy was biased and was hurting National Thermal Power Corporation.
Anil Ambani had also said that not just RNRL, but NTPC was also a victim of RIL's greed and that NTPC would lose between Rs 20 to 30 thousand crore if the price of gas from RIL's Krishna-Godavari Basin was revised.
Soon after Deora finished his statement on gas allocation there was an uproar in the Lok Sabha by the Opposition. Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the Lok Sabha till 1400 hrs IST.
However, the government received support from the Left on the Ambani gas row.
"The Oil Minister and the government have taken the right position reiterating that gas is the asset of the nation and the govt should have full authority to regulate pricing and distribution," Communist Party of India MP D Raja said.
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