RIL-RNRL gas pact flouts govt authority: OilMin

The part of the Ambani family MoU that divides the gas found by RIL between brothers Mukesh and Anil group firms is against public interest, flouts government authority and will set a wrong precedent for others, the oil ministry has said.

Responding to comments sought by the Prime Minister’s Office on a letter from Anil Ambani, the ministry last week wrote that the family MoU was clearly against the provisions of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) and will “harm the public interest”. Anil had written to the prime minister on July 15 seeking a direction to the oil ministry to stop favouring Reliance Industries in the commercial dispute.

The Bombay High Court’s June 15 order that upheld the MoU, gives “precedence to a private family MoU over the government’s rights under the PSC, the policies approved by the government and the Constitution of India”, it said.

The court had asked RIL to supply more than one-third of peak output from KG-D6 fields to Anil Ambani Group’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd at $2.34 per million British thermal unit, a rate 44 per cent lower than government approved price for the fuel from the fields.