In response to the affidavits filed by the Union of India and Reliance Industries (RIL) on Tuesday, the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) filed a counter affidavit in the Bombay High Court on Thursday.
In its affidavit, RNRL stated that the empowered group of ministers’ decision on a price formula for valuation is applicable to future contracts; under the production-sharing contract (PSC), the government’s role is limited to approving gas value so as to determine its share of profit petroleum and gas to be supplied to RNRL at terms not worse than the NTPC draft agreement.
Both NTPC and RNRL are seeking gas from RIL at $2.34 under their respective agreements. The government had earlier said that NTPC would not be allowed to buy KG gas at less than $4.20 per mBtu.
Also, during the course of his arguments, RIL’s senior counsel Harish Salve contended that RNRL had made certain changes in its pleading that was submitted before the court. The pleading submitted by RNRL, based on the MoU signed between the Ambani brothers in June 2005, had been changed and misrepresented and did not quote the MoU directly, Salve added.
The changes made in the pleadings were to change the beneficiary of gas from RIL’s Krishna Godavari basin from Reliance Energy, a part of the Anil Ambani group, so that the group can use the gas for trading, Salve had said.