The Hindu : Front Page : Meet on gas pricing inconclusive

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 28, 2007
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Meet on gas pricing inconclusive

Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI: The meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by the Minister for External Affairs, Pranab Mukherjee, to look into the issue of pricing and utilisation of natural gas produced from the Krishna Godavari Basin fields remained inconclusive. Another meeting of the group has been scheduled for Tuesday evening to sort out the issue.

The Government has come under tremendous pressure from the Left and other parties to make the whole process transparent and in the interest of consumers. “The meeting has been inconclusive and we will meet again tomorrow [Tuesday] to amicably sort out the issue to the satisfaction of all,” Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora said after the meeting.

The EGoM had to be winded up early on Monday evening as Mr. Mukherjee was scheduled to meet leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on the India-U.S. nuclear deal issue later in the night.

Official sources said the EGoM went through the reports of the Committee of Secretaries headed by the Cabinet Secretary and also that of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) of the Prime Minister. The EAC has pointed out to a lack of transparency in the bidding process adopted by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and putting in place a formula that was in the interest of the consumers and completely transparent.

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