RIL seeking to dilute agreement, says NTPC

Officially clarifying its stand for the first time on the gas controversy, the National Thermal Power Power Corporation yesterday filed a detailed corporate disclosure in the stock exchanges refuting the stand of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd, which is producing the gas from its eastern offshore block.

The government-owned power producer told the Bombay Stock Exchange it was taking its case against RIL up in appropriate government forums in order to safeguard its interests, and based on legal advice from both India's attorney-general and solicitor-general, it said.

To avoid prejudice to NTPC's claims in its suit against RIL, it has, on legal advice, not taken the allocated gas from RIL's Krishna-Godavari D6 block for its existing gas-based power stations at Kawas and Gandhar, it said. Instead, it would take this gas for its stations at Anta, Auraiya, Dadri and Faridabad, for which it has approached the union power ministry.

Earlier today, power secretary H S Brahma said NTPC would sign a gas sale and purchase agreement with RIL for supply of 2.67 mmscmd of gas at the government-mandated price of $4.2 per mbtu for these four stations.

In its statement, NTPC said that after the placement of a letter of intent for the gas and its acknowledgment by RIL, a contract came into existence with a draft of the GSPA already finalised the during bidding process. ''RIL, instead of executing the GSPA, sought to reopen the GSPA by seeking major changes in its terms and conditions and to thereby dilute the very complexion of the contract. This was unacceptable to NTPC,'' the company said.

''Supply of gas at $2.34/mBtu will not only ensure cheaper power but also more power to customers by full capacity utilisation under merit order scheduling, which will be in the interest of all consumers,'' it said.