The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : YSR told to pressurise Centre for natural gas

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 04, 2006
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

YSR told to pressurise Centre for natural gas

Special Correspondent

CPI (M) State secretary writes to Chief Minister

B.V. Raghavulu

HYDERABAD: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has asked Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to make concerted efforts for bringing pressure on the Central Government to get adequate quantity of natural gas supplied to the State.

Reacting to a report published in The Hindu , CPI (M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu, in a letter to the Chief Minister, said Gas Authority of India's (GAIL) decision to increase prices of gas would result in "unjustifiable" burden in the form of fuel surcharge adjustment. The Tariff Commission wanted GAIL to collect normative charges besides refunding the excess amount of Rs. 606.78 crores charged from APTransco, but there was no action so far.

Faulting the GAIL for not commencing supply of natural gas to new projects in the State, he said the GAIL had reportedly intimated to the existing gas-based power projects that additional gas might be available at a "market driven price" of US $ 4.9 per MMBTU.

`No justification'

He quoted an instance when the NTPC through competitive bidding obtained a price of US $ 2.97 per MMBTU (including transportation charges) for its Kawas and Gandhar projects in Gujarat.

When a price of US $ 2.97 could be obtained per MMBTU, there was "absolutely no justification" for fixing of the price at US $ 4.5 to 4.9 by GAIL. If the "so-called market driven price" came into effect, the consumers would have to bear an additional burden of Rs. 1,241 crores every year when compared with the prices charged by the ONGC.

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