The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : ‘K-G basin: State interests should not be ignored’

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Thursday, Jan 10, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

‘K-G basin: State interests should not be ignored’

Staff Reporter

KBPS demands supply of gas to meet local requirement

Kakinada: The Krishna-Godavari Basin Gas Sadhana Porata Committee (KBSPC) has reiterated its demand that the gas reserves in K-G basin should meet the requirement of Andhra Pradesh before being exported to other States like Gujarat, where a cylinder costs just Rs 100 against Rs 300 in our State. The committee alleged that the Centre was harming the interests of Andhra Pradesh in this regard, thus requiring the Members of Parliament to mount pressure on it to get justice done to the State.

At an awareness meeting held here on Wednesday, KBSPC convener Aluri Vijayalakshmi and other speakers said the State should get its due share of the gas discovered in K-G basin by Reliance Industries and State-owned enterprises and it should be sold at cheap prices.

Royalty

The companies should pay only 50 percent royalty to the Centre and supply gas in lieu of the balance to the State free of cost, as per the recommendation of the 12th Finance Commission.

The KBSPC opined that gas could be supplied through pipelines to local areas at a price lesser than is being currently shelled down by the consumers. Besides, the gas can be used for power generation, which would meet the needs of farm sector and households to a large extent, thus reducing dependency on conventional power. The State Government should take the initiative and influence the Central Government to ensure that A.P interests’ are not sacrificed for pure commercial reasons, which should not happen if the region were to develop further keeping pace with the time.

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