Govt trying to restrain RIL from selling assets to Saudi Aramco: Report

The demand was made in an ongoing court case against Reliance Industries and British Gas, report says.

The Indian government is trying to stop Reliance Industries Ltd. from paring its assets including a plan to sell a 20% stake to Saudi Aramco, the Times of India reported.

The demand was made in an ongoing court case against Reliance Industries and British Gas, the paper said. The government has sought to prevent the two companies from selling their assets, and honoring a $4.5 billion international arbitration award in a production-sharing dispute over the Panna-Mukta and Tapti fields, it said. India has asked Reliance directors to file an affidavit disclosing the company’s assets. The Delhi High Court will next hear the case on February 6, the report said.

The government affidavit states that Reliance is “in a massive group debt of Rs 2.88 trillion ” ($40.5 billion), and that there would be nothing left for the government to execute its award if it sold assets, the report said.