ONGC bats for deregulation of gas market for prosperity of industry

Wants to put a cap on minimum price at $4.2 per mBtu in order to make most of its fields viable

Triggering a debate on the need for revising the current domestic natural gas price regime, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) Chairman Dinesh Kumar Sarraf on Thursday stated that deregulation of gas pricing and marketing rights is necessary in India for the exploration industry to prosper.

He said major challenge that the exploration sector is facing in a low pricing environment would be cost optimisation. With effect from April 1, the government has cut the natural gas price to $2.48 per million British thermal unit (mbtu), which will be effective for six months. Hence, companies had been batting for