High Court defers hearing on NTPC-RIL row to April 20

Mumbai, Mar 28 (UNI) Hearing on the legal row over the gas sale and purchase agreement(GSPA) between the state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) was today deferred to April 20 by the Bombay High Court after both the parties failed to submit their application and rejoinder.

When counsels of both the sides requested the court to adjourn the proceedings, Justice S U Kamdar deferred the hearing to April 20.

During the last hearing on February 28, the judge had asked the RIL to file a detailed affidavit over the dispute in two weeks. He had further asked the NTPC to file a rejoinder to the affidavit within ten days of the RIL's stand on the vexed issue.

The country's biggest power producer had filed a petition against RIL on December 20, last year seeking a direction to RIL to sign the GSPA and also restricting it from entering into gas supply contract with any third party.

RIL has already signed an expression of interest (EoI) for supplying 132 trillion British thermal units of gas to NTPC's 2,600 MW plants at Kawas and Gandhar in Gujarat at US dollars 2.97 per MBTU gas for 17 years from 2007.

But during the hearing of the case, RIL had argued the project has become ''unbankable'' in view of ''uncapped liability clause in the GSPA.'' UNI XR SA LR DB2004