Stop RIL marketing margin, says Anil Ambani group co

The seven-member Empowered Group of Ministers (a Cabinet sub-committee) is scheduled to consider commercial utilisation of RIL’s KG-D6 gas and other related matters. The issue of company charging the US$0.135 per mmBtu marketing margin is not listed on agenda.

Letter to Centre

Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Infrastructure wrote to Sushil Kumar Shinde on October 23, requesting him to take up the issue of levy, over and above the Government-approved gas price of US$4.205 per million British thermal unit at the ensuing meeting of Empowered Group of Ministers. “RIL should be directed to immediately put a stop to this illegitimate levy of marketing margin from all customers of KG Basin gas and refund the marketing margin wrongfully collected so far,” Reliance Infra CEO Lalit Jalan said in his letter.

Reliance-Infra said the “unjustified” marketing margin levied by RIL did not “add a single rupee to the Government’s revenue.” “The unlawful marketing margin is not part of valuation price that is used to determine the Government’s take and the entire marketing margin goes to RIL’s revenues,” he wrote.
“Such unauthorised charges if paid by the power companies, would lead to higher cost of generation for gas based plants affecting the viability of power generation and hence should be immediately stopped.”