Mukesh Ambani meets FM, Montek over gas price

New Delhi, Aug 21 (UNI) Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani today briefed Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and pressed for a price of 4.33 dollars per million British thermal units (mBtu) for its gas to be produced from Krishna-Godavari (KG) fields.

RIL had won the KG-D6 block in first round of NELP in 2000. The price of 4.33 dollars per mBtu proposed by RIL for the gas it plans to produce from KG-D6 from July 2008 had met stiff opposition from power and fertiliser sectors in general, and Mukesh's younger brother Anil Ambani in particular.

The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (EAC) had said that the fuel should be sold at market rates according to the provisions of the production sharing contract.

The EAC's move to uphold the market rate based tariff is in consonance with what Mukesh Ambani-led RIL had asked for -- 4.33 dollars per million British thermal units (mBtu).

RIL was the first company to strike gas at the Krishna-Godavari basin in the first round of NELP announced by the government in 2000.

The EAC had said the RIL price formula could be fine tuned and that the company can broadbase the auction and invite bids from more players.

The Centre had also constituted the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to look into the recommendations of the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) on the gas price issue at the insistence of state government which will meet on August 27 to take stock of situation.

MORE UNI