NTPC, after firming up its legal position in the Supreme Court, is all set to sign an agreement with Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) for supply of the allocated gas from the KG basin facility at an officially approved price of $4.20 per million British thermal unit (mBtu).
However, Power Ministry officials said the Gas and Sales Purchase Agreement (GSPA) with RIL will not be signed for Kawas and Gandhar power plants in Gujarat in view of the legal dispute pending before the Supreme Court. This could lead to NTPC signing the agreement for only a part of its allocation of 2.67 million cubic metres of gas a day allocated by the Empowered Group of Ministers headed by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
On the other hand, Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry officials informed that the Power Ministry had conveyed to them that all the internal approvals for NTPC for signing of the GSPA had been granted and the formal agreement could be signed in the next few days. The development comes close on the heels of the review carried out by the Petroleum Ministry of the gas allocation and all those who have not signed the GSPA or are not lifting their quota of gas.
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The EGoM had last year allocated 2.67 million cubic metres a day of KG-D6 gas to NTPC’s Kawas and Gandhar plants in Gujarat and the Anta power plant in Rajasthan.
NPTC, which initially opposed paying $0.135 per mBtu marketing margin to RIL, has agreed to pay the levy. The officials said that of the initial 40 mscmd of output from the RIL’s KG-D6 field, NTPC, Dabhol power plant, Essar Power and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) are yet to draw a single unit.
Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt. Ltd. — the firm that runs the 2,150-MW Dabhol power plant in Maharashtra — has informed that it will begin drawing 5.67 mscmd gas from October 1.
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