Anil Ambani on pilgrimage to Badrinath

Industrialist Anil Ambani, along with his mother Kokilaben, visited holy shrine of Badrinath on Wednesday, ahead of talks between his group company RNRL and Mukesh Ambani group's Reliance Industries on gas supply issue.

Ambani flew to Badrinath, which reopened to the public today, from here in a helicopter to pay obeisance to Lord Badri or Vishnu. Badrinath is one of the four main Hindu shrines located in the Himalayas (the others being Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri).

The visit comes within weeks of the Supreme Court denying Anil Ambani group firm RNRL cheap natural gas from elder brother Mukesh Ambani-led RIL and days ahead of negotiations between RNRL and RIL on the issue.

The apex court, on May 7, had asked the two parties to reach a suitable arrangement on the issue within six weeks.

The formal talks are expected to begin next week where RIL Executive Director P M S Prasad and ADAG firm Reliance Power CEO J P Chalsani are expected to play significant roles.

Reliance Natural Resources Ltd was seeking supply of 28 million cubic meters per day of gas for 17 years at a price of USD 2.34 per million British thermal unit for the Group's greenfield power plant at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, as opposed to the government-approved price of USD 4.2 per mmBtu.

As per the Supreme Court verdict, RNRL can get gas in future based on government allocation and pricing. The provisions of any new agreement are to be in line with the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) and the ambit of government policy.