RNRL intervention will hit NTPC, says RIL

Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) moved the Supreme Court seeking permission to become a party to NTPC’s case against RIL for getting natural gas at US$2.34 per million British thermal unit. “RNRL’s application for intervention in RIL-NTPC case in the Supreme Court further weakens the NTPC’s case as the Government has categorically mentioned in its Interlocutory Application (IA) that both the cases are different from each other,” a RIL official, who did not want to be named, said. The Centre in its IA made a distinction between NTPC and RNRL seeking gas from RIL on the same terms, saying the PSU’s case was based on an international tender it floated for sourcing gas while Anil Ambani Group firm’s claim was based on a private family agreement. “In RNRL’s case, the Centre had rejected the price of US$2.34 per mmBtu as it was not an arm’s length price,” the RIL official said. He alleged NTPC’s failure to sign a contract with RIL for sourcing 2.67 million cubic meters per day of gas that the government allocated to its plants other than the Kawas and Gandhar expansion projects, to its “nexus” with RNRL.