The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), headed by Defence Minister A. K. Antony, on Wednesday, refrained from making any changes to the gas allocation policy.
It also rejected the proposal to cut natural gas supplies to urea plants and divert the same to power plants.
The EGoM decided that fertilizer plants would continue to enjoy the top
priority in gas allocation. “Today’s decision is that the requirement of fertilizer for the agriculture sector will be fully protected. While doing that possibilities are being explored whether any additional gas can be made available to the power sector,’’ Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily told reporters after the EGoM meeting.
Mr. Moily said the EGoM would meet once again on July 22 to discuss the methodology of making available gas from other sources to the power sector in the short as well as medium term.
“The agriculture season is good, and we need to protect their requirement. At the same time, power should also get gas,’’ he remarked.
At present, fertilizer plants consume all of the 14 million standard cubic metres a day of gas produced from Reliance Industries’ eastern offshore KG-D6 fields.
