Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy is planning to lead a delegation of Union Ministers and MPs to call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday with a request to cancel the allotment of gas from the KG basin to the Ratnagiri power project in Maharashtra.
Mr. Reddy’s decision comes in the light of widespread criticism that the State was deprived of gas supply.
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The government swung into damage control mode immediately. It deputed Roads and Buildings Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao, who is camping in New Delhi, to meet Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister S. Jaipal Reddy.
But the efforts did not bear fruit as Mr. Jaipal Reddy is learnt to have expressed his helplessness on the ground that the issue had to be taken up with the Prime Minister directly. Mr. Reddy reportedly maintained that the decision to allot 2 MMSCMD to Ratnagiri power project was taken by the EGoM headed by then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister held a high-level meeting with senior officials at the camp office to review the status of power generation and gas supply situation after allotment to the Ratnagiri power project. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Minnie Mathew, Principal Secretary (Energy), Mrityunjaya Sahoo and APTransco CMD Hiralal Samaria.
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Another letter to PM
The Chief Minister dashed off another letter to the Prime Minister requesting him to cancel diversion of Reliance gas to Ratnagiri power project as the variable cost of Reliance/ONGC gas to the State was Rs. 2.10 a unit, compared to RLNG, whose variable cost when landing worked out to Rs. 9.06 per unit.
Officials informed that the variable cost at which Reliance/ONGC gas was available in Maharashtra and Gujarat was Rs. 3. The RLNG’s cost at West Coast was Rs. 6.05 per unit and LNG terminal was available in the West Coast to have the access to RLNG.