ADAG welcomes govt's move to secure NTPC interests

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) firm Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) today welcomed the government's move to protect NTPC's interest on sourcing gas from Reliance Industries, saying effective legal steps will defeat the Mukesh Ambani firm's "malafide attempts to dishonour" its commitment.

Commenting on media reports on government preparing to file an interlocutory application, RNRL said in a statement that effective legal steps should be taken "to enforce NTPC's contractual right to receive 12 mmscmd of gas from Reliance Industries (RIL) for its Kawas and Gandhar projects at a fixed price of $2.34 per mBtu for a period of 17 years."

This, it said, would defeat "RIL's malafide attempts to dishonour its binding legal commitments".

A ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today decided to clarify through a petition before the apex court that the $4.20 per mBtu price fixed for RIL's KG-D6 gas was without prejudice to the state-run firm's case seeking fuel from RIL at $2.34 per mBtu price committed in 2004.