Faced with attacks from opposition parties over the irregularities in development of exploration blocks awarded to private companies, petroleum minister S Jaipal Reddy will clarify his ministry’s role in a conference next week. A press conference had been scheduled for on Saturday. It, however, had to be cancelled.
“The minister of petroleum and natural gas had scheduled a press conference on the issues raised in the media by Murli Manohar Joshi of BJP and Sitaram Yechury of CPM regarding the leaked draft CAG report on Hydrocarbon Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) at 12.30 pm on Saturday. However, due to sudden and tragic demise of his only niece, the Minister had to cancel the press conference and rush to Hyderabad,” said a ministry release. Reddy will hold the press conference after his return from Hyderabad.
Since the leaked draft report of CAG was published on Monday, this is the oil ministry’s third attempt to clarify its position. The ministry also asked the media and political parties to practice restraint on the report since it is in a draft stage.
