CBI concludes KG Basin inquiry; seeks AG's opinion

The CBI, sources said, has completed its inquiry into the alleged conspiracy in allowing RIL to raise cost of developing the KG-D6 field from USD 2.39 billion proposed in 2004 to USD 8.8 billion in 2006.

Controversial technocrat V K Sibal was the head of Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) which gave RIL approvals for raising the cost on the plea that gas reserves as well as cost of services have gone up.

Operators like RIL are allowed to recover all their cost before sharing profits with the government. Higher capital cost directly impacts the government's revenue.

The agency had registered a preliminary enquiry into the case in November 2009 on request of the Oil Ministry following several objections raised by CVC on the KG-D6 deal.

CBI sources said that probe has been completed in connection with the case and the matter has been referred to the Attorney General seeking legal opinion in the matter.

During its probe, the agency had taken the ministry's assistance to understand the arguments offered by Reliance when it raised the cost of developing Dhirubhai 1 and 3 gas fields in the KG-D6 block from USD 2.39 billion proposed in 2004 to USD 5.196 billion in Phase-1 and another USD 3.3 billion in Phase-II. More