Govt's effort not to protect RIL's interest, says Deora

Irked by allegations of favouritism, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora today said his ministry had better things to do than go around supporting Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). “How do you say that... Don’t we have any other work,” Deora shot back when asked about Anil Ambani group’s ad-campaigns in newspapers alleging that the ministry was favouring RIL.

The government will protect the interests of state-owned NTPC, he said, adding that its revenues from the RIL’s KG-D6 fields were estimated at about Rs 84,000-crore and not Rs 500 crore as claimed by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) in the advertisement campaign.

Deora said the Ambani brothers’ fight had impacted investor confidence in the oil and gas sector, but the response so far to the country’s latest offering of oil and gas blocks was “very good”. “It would have been better (if there had been no dispute),” Deora said. The government had begun overseas roadshows to attract investment into the country’s Exploration and Production sector through the latest offering under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).