Ambani dispute hurts markets, says Pranab

The ongoing spat between the Ambani brothers over the pricing of natural gas will negatively impact domestic capital markets and the larger interests of industry and government, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday.

Speaking at an Idea Exchange programme organised by The Express Group, Mukherjee said the controversy between Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) has also been unfortunate for the larger interests of the economy.

“It will have its adverse impact on the capital markets because they (the two groups) are too big. They are much bigger than they were in the seventies,” he said. As of August 26, the two groups combined accounted for more than 10% of the market capitalisation of the two major stock exchange BSE and NSE.

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High Court asks Ambanis to frame new gas pact

The Bombay High Court on Monday ordered Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s largest company, to sell natural gas to brother Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd at a price that is 44% lower than the price proposed by the government earlier.

The order could significantly impact the contours of the natural gas economy in the country. RIL has been asked to supply natural gas to RNRL for 17 years at $2.34 per million British thermal units. RNRL, however, cannot trade the gas but can use it as raw material in its power projects. Natural gas accounts for about 18% of the total energy-mix of the Indian economy.

An RIL spokesperson said: “The full text of the judgment of the honourable High Court has been received by us and is being reviewed by us.

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Empowered group of ministers to decide on Reliance Industries Limited gas allocation to power plants

An empowered group of ministers (EGoM) is likely to meet on Thursday to decide on allocation of natural gas from Reliance Industries’ eastern offshore K-G D6 fields to various power plants.

“The Election Commission has given a go-ahead to hold the EGoM meeting at 1 pm on April 9,” a top official said. EGoM headed by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee would decide which power plant will get how much of K-G D6 gas and when.

Currently, gas-based power plants face a deficit of about 36 million cubic meters per day, while only 18 mmcmd out of K-G D6’s initial 40 mmcmd output has been allocated to them. The meeting was originally scheduled for last month itself but had to be postponed after a senior MP complained to the EC that the ministers’ panel was going to allocate the gas to power plants in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, giving the ruling Congress party in the two states an advantage for making an election promise of giving free power to farmers.

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