No decision to reconstitute EGoM on KG gas

The government today said it has not decided to reconstitute a high-powered ministerial panel on the Krishna Godavari basin gas field owned by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).

"No decision has been taken to reconstitute an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on allotment of gas," Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada said in a reply to Lok Sabha here.

An EGoM headed by the then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee was constituted in 2007 to approve a selling price of RIL's KG-D6 block gas and to prioritise usage of the gas.

Both the tasks have been accomplished and gas is being sold in accordance with that decision.      Consumers for close to 43 million standard cubic meters per day of gas from the D6 fields of RIL have already been tied-up and there are no issues regarding delivery of the fuel to the intended customers.

"Current gas production from KG-D6 block is 31 mmscmd and it is being sold as per the EGOM approved price (of) $4.2 per million British thermal unit," Prasada said.

To a separate question, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said the Government has been made an 'intervener' in the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by RIL challenging Bombay High Court order of June 15 that asked the Mukesh Ambani firm to supply gas to Anil Ambani Group firm at price 44 per cent lower than Government approved rates.