Oil ministry withdraws objection to RIL’s KG-D6 gas price hike proposal

The ministry of petroleum and natural gas has ended its opposition to Reliance Industries' demand for an increase in the price of gas it supplies to various consumers in the country from the KG-D6 fields in the west coast, even as RIL showed signs of easing its stance on the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India auditing its accounts.

The ministry is reported to have withdrawn a note it had earlier sent to the ministerial panel opposing any hike in the price of gas by Reliance Industries, as the Rangarajan Committee was examining pricing of the fuel.

The ministry had, on 10 October, sent a note to the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) opposing a hike in price of RIL's KG-D6 gas before April 2014.

''Yes, the note to EGoM has been withdrawn,'' a top ministry official said.

He said the ministry has now asked the panel headed by the chairman of the prime minister's economic advisory council C Rangarajan, to suggest the ''structure and elements of the guidelines for determining the basis or formula for the price of domestically produced gas, and for monitoring actual price fixation.''

The six-member panel appointed by the prime minister has been asked specifically to look at the design of future contracts for exploration of oil and gas as also its pricing, the official said.