NTPC not to file separate plea in Ambani brothers’ tussle

September 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - State-run power utility NTPC may sign an agreement to buy natural gas from Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries (RIL) at the government-approved rate of $4.20 per unit for plants other than Kawas and Gandhar, Power Secretary H.S. Brahma said Thursday.

September 4th, 2009 MUMBAI - State-run power utility NTPC Friday said it was "committed to drawing the allocated gas" from the Krishna-Godavari hydrocarbon basin for projects in the national capital region that includes Delhi, even though it was fighting a legal battle with the contractor, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). "NTPC is committed to drawing the allocated gas for its national capital region gas-based power stations at Anta, Dadri and Faridabad, without prejudice to its rights and contentions in the ongoing suit between NTPC and RIL," said the company in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

September 2nd, 2009 MOSCOW - Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Wednesday said that the government tried to pacify the fighting Ambani brothers several times, but failed to bring about a reconciliation. "We tried to bring a reconciliation, but we failed.

August 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The ministerial panel set up to decide on the government's stand on the Krishna-Godavari gas row, will meet again Thursday after an informal round of talks here Wednesday. The high-level panel, consisting of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, Law Minister Veerappa Moily and Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, met "informally", according to sources.

August 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has constituted a four-member ministerial group to look into the dispute over natural gas from the fields of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries in the Krishna-Godavari basin and help in formulating the government's position on the matter before the courts. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will head the group, which includes Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Law and Justice Minister Veerappa Moily.

August 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A day after Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group accused the petroleum ministry of misguiding the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), oil minister Murli Deora met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday to apprise him of his ministry's stance on the subject. In the 30-minute meeting, Deora once again explained his ministry's position that the government had the right to determine the price and use of natural gas as it deemed fit, a senior official in the oil ministry said.

August 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been urged to order a probe into the antecedents of a former oil ministry official who scrutinised the price of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin agreed between the companies led by the two Ambani brothers. Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha member Virendra Bhatia, in his letter to the prime minister, said Sunjoy Joshi, who handled the contentious decision in 2006 as a joint secretary in the oil ministry, subsequently joined an organisation promoted by Reliance Industries.

July 29th, 2009 MUMBAI - The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) Wednesday reported 7.4 percent surge in its net profit to Rs.17.2 crore ($3.5 million) for the quarter ended June 30 as compared to Rs.16 crore in the like period last year. Total income increased 24 percent to Rs.115.4 crore from Rs.92.9 crore, the company said in a regulatory statement.

July 28th, 2009 MUMBAI - Reliance Natural Resources chairman Anil Ambani Tuesday accused the petroleum ministry of being biased in the legal dispute with brother Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries over the price of natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin. Addressing shareholders of the company, he also said the government would not lose a single rupee even if the gas from the fields off the Andhra Pradesh coast were to be supplied to his company at the originally contracted price of $2.34 per unit.

July 23rd, 2009 RAIPUR - Power utility NTPC Ltd has agreed to provide 35 percent of the electricity produced at its upcoming 500 MW stage-III Korba project to Chhattisgarh, a government statement said Thursday. "NTPC (formerly National Thermal Power Corp) has agreed to provide 175 MW power to Chhattisgarh from its 500 MW stage-III Korba project that will begin generation by February 2010," the statement said.

June 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - State-run power company NTPC Ltd is willing to buy gas from the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) at $4.2 per million British thermal units, but with exceptions, a top official said here Tuesday. R.S. Sharma, chairman and managing director of NTPC, formerly National Power Thermal Corp, told reporters here that the company might sign an agreement with RIL to purchase gas at the market price, but not for the plants under dispute in court.

May 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - State-run power major NTPC Ltd has signed a Rs.8,500-crore ($1.7-billion) loan agreement with State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, it was announced here Thursday. The agreement was signed by NTPC general manager (finance) M.

January 18th, 2009 MUMBAI - The Anil Ambani group Monday told the Bombay High Court that allowing Reliance Industries to charge a higher tariff for gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin would mean a Rs.250-billion scam. The group, which is fighting a bitter legal battle with the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries over gas from the fields off the Andhra Pradesh coast, said state-run utility NTPC must not be asked to pay more than the agreed price of $2.34 per unit.

January 15th, 2009 MUMBAI - The Bombay High Court is expected to decide next week whether Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries can assume sale of natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin, off the Andhra Pradesh coast. The court had imposed a stay on the sale of natural gas from the fields after two cases were filed against Reliance Industries over the sale price and qualtity of fuel - one by the Anil Ambani Group and the other by state-run power utility National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).

January 13th, 2009 MUMBAI - Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Wednesday denied any pact with Anil Ambani Group's Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) for the sale of natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin off the Andhra Pradesh coast. Representing Reliance Industries, senior counsel Harish Salve told the Bombay High Court that a memorandum of understanding was entered into with Reliance Energy, another company in the Anil Ambani group, for the Dadri power project in Uttar Pradesh.