Panel to discuss gas pricing on Tuesday

The Energy Co-ordination Committee (ECC), headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, would meet on Tuesday with gas pricing, gas sourcing and gas allocation as the main topics on the agenda, an official source said.

Besides the prime minister, other members of the ECC include Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Coal Minister Dasari Narayana Rao, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Chairman of Economic Advisory Council C Rangarajan, and Minister of State for Non-Conventional Energy Sources Vilas Muttemwar.

The committee also comprises principal secretary to the prime minister and secretaries of the ministries concerned.

The issue of price of gas from Reliance Industries' block in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin would also be discussed in the meeting.

The company has gone through a "price discovery" exercise and arrived at a price of $4.79 per million metric British thermal unit (mmBtu).

This cost is, however, under question from various quarters, since the bids invited for price discovery were limited to 10 players, of which half were not authorised.

At present, gas prices in the country vary from $1-$10 depending on whether the gas is bought at controlled prices or off the spot market.

The committee will also discuss the appeal by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy for priority allocation of gas.

In a letter to the prime minister, Reddy has said that gas from the K-G basin should be given to the state first for meeting its requirements in power generation, CNG, domestic gas and other industrial purposes.

He has urged the prime minister to intervene and direct the petroleum ministry to opt for "profit gas in kind" to keep the gas prices under check.

The ECC came into being two years ago to "formulate a coordinated policy response cutting across ministries to improve the overall energy scenario in the country while addressing energy security concerns."