Govt furthering Mukesh Ambani's interest, says Amar, wants probe

New Delhi, Aug 29 (UNI) Accusing the Central Ministries of Power and Petroleum of furthering the interests of Mukesh Ambani at the cost of the country's critically placed power sector, Samajawadi Party general secretary Amar Singh has demanded a probe by the Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU).

Mr Singh wanted the COPU to imediately summon officials of the Ministries of Petrolrum, Power and the NTPC to explain their 'lethargic' attitude in pursuing the case against the company in Bombay High Court over supply of gas from the KG basin.

The SP leader is a member of COPU chaired by Rupchand Pal.

He levelled the charges against the Ministries and the Government-appointed Counsel T S Doabia, who was dealing with the case in the Bombay High Court, in a letter to Mr Pal.

The SP leader said the RIL in complicity with officials of the NTPC and the Ministry of Petroleum suggested major commercial deviations ''including a scandalously upward revision in the price of gas to be supplied, which were not in line with the original tender and could obviously have been objected to by the other bidders who were not selected.'' He said RIL had been selected for supplying gas tp two NTPC projects at Gandhar and Kawas in Gujarat on the basis of a comprehensive international process.

However, the company had made it amply clear in 2005 that it had no intention of honouring its contractural obligations to NTPC but despite that the NTPC was not vigorously pursuing the enforcement of contract with it, said Mr Singh.

The committee should investigate why TS Doabia, the Petroleum Ministry counsel in the litigation to the High Court said that NTPC did not have a contract with RIL for supply of gas.

According to Mr Singh, a conspiracy has been hatched to help RIL wriggle out of the contract, which would adversely affect NTPC's power projects.

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