Mumbai: Industrialist Anil Ambani welcomed Petroleum Minister Murli Deora's statement on Monday that gas will be supplied to his group's proposed power plant in Uttar Pradesh but said Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) was deliberately keeping low the production of this natural resource from the Krishna-Godavari basin.
Reacting to Deora's statement in the Lok Sabha, Ambani said he was happy to hear the Government stand, based on the recommendations of a ministerial group, that gas should be supplied to his group's Dadri power project in Uttar Pradesh from the fields allocated to his brother Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries.
"I welcome the honourable petroleum minister's statement in parliament today, reaffirming the availability of gas for Reliance Power's proposed project to be built at the Dhirubhai Ambani Energy City at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh," he said.
"Since the minister has made a comment that the Dadri plant is not yet operational or functional, I would like to clarify that this situation has been caused solely by Reliance Industries' malafide conduct in consistently refusing to provide a bankable gas supply agreement to Reliance Natural Resources and NTPC."
Yet, Anil Ambani said, Minister Deora's statement had also led to some concerns, mainly over the level of production from the Krishna-Godavari basin, over which his Reliance Natural Resources is fighting a bitter legal battle with Reliance Industries.
Referring to the statement, Anil Ambani said Reliance Industries was pumping 31 million units of gas from the fields since April even though it should have gone up to 80 million by June-July after an initial level of 40 million. He wondered why it should take one more year to reach the optimal level.
"This is truly surprising. Why is Reliance Industries producing less? The answer is simple. The production is artificially being kept at lower levels by Reliance Industries, owing to the lack of demand at the present exorbitant price of $4.2 per unit," he said.
"We, as end users of the gas, are sincerely requesting the government and the petroleum ministry to take effective steps to prevent under-production -- or, simply put, hoarding of gas by monopoly producers like Reliance Industries."
He said he had also written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the matter.
Deora had told the Lok Sabha earlier that supply of gas to the Dadri project had been considered by an empowered group of ministers led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. "This plant is neither installed nor functional," he said.
"The intention of the government is very clear. We will allocate gas to Dadri plant subject to availability and that Dadri plant will be treated on the same footing as other similar plants placed under similar circumstances."
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