RIL, RNRL begin gas supply talks- Reports
18 May 2010
According to a PTI report Reliance Industries and Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL) have today begun informal talks for a possible gas supply agreement. The agreement would be in line with the Supreme Court's verdict on the dispute between the two Ambani brothers.
The report quoted and unnamed source as saying that two top officials of RIL and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group on Tuesday held preliminary discussions on a possible settlement of the gas dispute.
However there was no formal confirmation of the meeting and the issues discussed by either of the two groups, the report said.
The Supreme Court on 7 May rejected RNRL's plea for cheap gas from RIL on the basis of a 2005 private family agreement.
The apex court held that the government was the owner of all gas until delivery to consumers and had the right to fix its price and users and asked the two sides to talk to each other and resolve the issue withing six weeks.
RNRL was seeking supply of 28mmcmd of gas for 17 years at a price of $2.34 per million British thermal units for the group's Dadri, UP greenfield power plant as against the government-approved price of $4.2 per mmBtu.
According to the Supreme Court judgment RNRL can get gas in future based on government allocation and pricing and the provisions of any new agreement would have to be in line with the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) and the ambit of government policy.