Deora to respond on Ambani gas row today in Lok Sabha

Under attack from the Anil Ambani group, but rejuvenated by Law Minister Veerappa Moily’s backing, Oil Minister Murli Deora will speak in Parliament tomorrow about a row over gas supply to the industrialist’s proposed power plant in Uttar Pradesh.

Deora’s statement on gas to the Dadri power project is in response to the issue raised by Samajwadi Party members in Lok Sabha on July 29, a day after Anil accused the oil ministry of colluding with elder brother Mukesh Ambani-led RIL in its design to make super-normal profit of Rs 50,000 crore.

Deora would inform the House about the decision of an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Anil Ambani group firm Relaince Natural Resources Ltd’s (RNRL’s) claim of first right over 28 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) of gas from RIL and the policy about fuel supply to future power projects.

The statement is understood to have been vetted at a meeting called by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday evening that was also attended by Moily, government counsel Mohan Parasaran and top officials of the ministries of petroleum and law.

Moily had hit out at Anil Ambani on Friday night, saying it was “uncharitable” to accuse Deora of siding with RIL.

The SP members, led by their President Mulayam Singh Yadav, had demanded Deora’s resignation, while accusing the Centre of stalling the 7,800-megawatt power plant, about 50 km from the national capital.

Emerging from the meeting, Moily had said that the government was fully backing the Petroleum Ministry in its plea to the Supreme Court seeking delinking of natural gas from the family agreement that split the Dhirubhai Ambani empire between brothers Mukesh and Anil.

Moily said the government was the rightful owner of the natural resource found in the Krishna Godavari basin and was vested with rights under the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) to frame gas pricing and utilisation policies.

“We are not interested in any family settlement. All we want is that the property that belongs to the people of this country should be de-linked,” Moily had said. “And whatever is needed to protect government interest, we will do.”

The meeting, second in the last week, was held not to discuss ways to “dilute government’s plea in Supreme Court. On the contrary, we are looking how can be make a stronger case before the Supreme Court.”

“The government has a bigger interest at stake as its policy of equitable growth (has been challenged by the family MoU dividing the gas between the two bothers). We have to protect every inch of the government interest,” he said, adding the government’s role in pricing of gas and its utilisation was clearly spelt out and there is no ambiguity on the issue.

“There is absolutely no confusion with regard to the right of the government to fix price of the gas and its utilisation... We are not going to go shy away from this responsibility. We will fully protect the government interest,” he said.